*blinks* There were so many things that I liked. But I'm going to list them all independently anyway.

This was the best "I love you and you love me but neither of us say anything" story ever because they both knew that they knew. And that was obvious in EVERY line. And I enjoyed the "if he noticed blank, he didn't show it"s. All of them. Because they were so cool and the tone was exquisite!

I'm a sucker for symbolism, so I loved the glasses/watching idea. Very nice.

Also because I'm a sucker for symbolism, the water! Water is the best sort of conduit, and Rikku nearly died on it.

The Him-->him. So awesomely cool because he changes from this revered thing to just a man, and a human person at the very end. Because he's suddenly attainable even when he's dead. Thus, she starts calling him Auron. Nice. The fact that Lulu names her third kid Auron adds to that I think.

The subtle run-on Rikku-but-also-sad-ness.

Now. For my constructive (hopefully) criticism.

You have a comma issue. You use them a bit too often where you don't need them. And I kind of lost track. But here are some examples.

"It was beautiful, as far as the eye could see" Nix the comma.

"tell what He was thinking, because of those Yevon-damned glasses" Nix the comma.

So just go back and look.

In the same vein, you do a lot of present/past tense jumping and I can't really figure out why. Tense jumping is okay, but if readers can't follow it, then make the reason more obvious.

Now some content stuff.

You mention the patented Auron glare before she shouts "Auron!" for the first time, and I kind of liked the thought that her saying it would be the first time his name is in the story. Especially since the only mention before is just kine of innocuous. Not to step on your toes, but the feel is just right there. Meh. My thoughts only.

Also, the balance between enjoying life and wanting to see Auron seems a bit strained a the end for me. I liked the line about cheating because I think it makes the balance she has come through best, but I think you might have overdone the 'she knows he's waiting' a bit. It almost feels like, at some points when you say that, that she's sort of waiting through life, which is NOT your point. So just some nit-picky things on that.

Oh yes. And with the 'ignoring the bad moments' thing. I don't know if it fits. Because Rikku wants those too! Or else she wouldn't really remember Auron. And she has to not ignore her decision to go back so that she can stay strong there. More random toe-stepping thoughts.

Otherwise, nice. I really enjoyed reading this, like I said. The concept sort of made me skeptical because it has been done (maybe not with Rikku and Auron, but in places), but this ended up being pretty intresting writing-wise. So it had a good spark for me. Now for some specific typos that don't really fit into anything else I said...

"Sunny, light-hearted, carefree days; perfect, with just the right amount of wind blowing through her dreadlocks"
Kind of nit-picky. But neither of these are sentences. Which is fine and all (I don't mind fragments), but I would avoid the semi-colon in that case.

"keeps it out of her face and and out of the way should she be attacked" The double ands in a row between face and out. You might have intended that (it would fit with Rikku), but you don't do it anywhere else, so that makes me think it isn't.

"every time she'd dived" she'd dive or she dived

"and sin and Him" is it Sin or just sin? Sorry about pointing out things that might not even be typos.

"loved it, too; loved the wind, loved the salty spray, loved the feeling of being absolutely free" ;-->:

The last sentence of the first part seems a bit heavy on the semi-colons. You might like it that way, but I find it a bit nye, even though I think your run-ons and rambling sentences here are appropriate.

"standing in the Calm Lands a deathly cold would have settled upon her now, leaking over from the cold peaks of Mt. Gagazet" cold in the same sentence twice (though I really loved this line)

And that's it from me. I hope I was at least a bit helpful and didn't make your eyes glaze over. Heh.

Thank you for the wonderful read!

Tasha, that was beautiful.

Seriously, I had never read this one before, and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't even know it was you that had written this until I scrolled back up to the penname.

Wonderful, wonderful job. I felt so sad, but in a bittersweet way, throughout this piece. You have a real talent here, and the rare times where you can sit down and force it to do what you want really yield results.

The only complaint I have is that you have some verb tense issues throughout this, but I felt myself overcoming my nitpicking to really enjoy this story despite that. Awesomesauce.

...I actually just read an Aurikku...and LOVED it. I couldn't stop myself. I swear you guys are gonna convert me one pairing at a time. D:

Honestly, I loved how you did this. *rubs eyes* Auron's bluntness seemed to be just the thing she needed when she was so determined to take a hike off the mortal plane so early.

Serves me right for fic-hunting so early in the morning. *sighs* GJ, I has now been corrupted.

awesome oneshot!you should continue along this path of aurikkus because your good at them. i support aurikku too.along with yuffentine. actually if you compare the two couples they are very similar. rikku and yuffie are both energetic thiefs who like the tall, dark, and handsome one of the group.i also support rikku/gippal. they make a cute couple. in x-2, when they are the friendly nieborhood gullwings who charge for fiend elimination, brother wants to leave gippal stranded, but yuna says "we'll just have to cost him extra" and rikku says "can't we give him a discount?"

great oneshot!

Hey!

If there's a story that can make me fall totally in love with AuRikku, it would be this one.

While this website demands a well-rounded critique, which usually entails criticism and praise, I'm afraid that that might not be possible, because a) the story doesn't have anything to criticize,
b) the review might become too long,
c) bore you to death with my terrible pangs of fangirling.

But you're worth trying my best to do so.

=Warning Long Review=

The statement about Rikku's clothing was a moment of hilarity amidst confused emotions and otherwise angst-ish writing. I'm not complaining though. I love the latter two, but the former was a breath of fresh air in my drowning in your awesomeness. xD

Second thing, I like the quote about "Moments". It makes me smile really. And reflect on it. Though, sorry to add, I think I've heard it somewhere else...? But it still adds to the story, so nothing big.

Last thing, I like the play on the sunglasses...even though the mention of pink irks me (I dislike the colour). But the meaning you pulled out of it gives me a whole new perspective on pink. That's how much it affected me. xD

=End Long Review=

All in all, I'd say this was an enjoyable read, with plenty of little pockets of heartwarming things. Lovely piece and not inferior to anything!

MR

omg i loved this story! I was balling my eyes out(in a good way)

You made me tear up a little there. I very much enjoyed this. Wonderful.

Mystic

Aww, that made me glow. .<

I hate feeling like the nit-pick though, but you typed 'and and' back in the 3rd. Also, shouldn't the 'simple' in [“You will pass on to the Farplane,” he said, as if it were the most simple thing on the planet.] be 'simplest'?

Other than that, there are no faults.

Superb job Costa. :D

~Koky

That...was beautiful!
It's something I could never write, and I am so glad you did. If you didn't write it, then someone else would have made the ending so terribly unbearable, and so terribly sad. But, you made it happy, even if it was a tad melancholy. Which is for the best.
Thank you.

Oh wow, this rocks a lot! The opening even reminds me of an idea I had ages ago that starts like that but Rikku's really gone for good (or so and so plot plot etc).

I like your version better anyway :D

D: I just realized I didn't post a review for this.

Oh, gawd, Tasha. Every single time I read this, I get this great, happy mood goin on and want to write until my fingers fall off and go do something absolutely stupid. And that is just such a good philosophy - moments. I think that will be imprinted in my brain even when I'm old and my teeth are falling out and I don't even know my own name. This is just SUCH A DAMN GOOD STORY I COULD DO A TOTALLY RETARDED TAP DANCE ABOUT IT.

(Aughnuh, you shameless flatterer. My stuff is like, -20x better than yours. Which means it ISN'T!)

So I figure I owe you a review. =P

First let me say that it's wonderfully sweet and Aurikku and makes me go all warm inside. For your first Aurikku, it's pretty damn good. I actually liked how at first he's 'Him' and then changes to just a 'him' when she meets him again; kinda suggests that maybe she'd built him up to more than he really was in her head, or something. XD

However. (Most ominous word on the planet, that.) I thought the part about them hugging each other until the sunrise was just a leetle overly... sentimental, and actually detracted a little from what was otherwise a really nice Moment. Maybe it'd be better to have, say, the kiss and just then the sun rises, and she has to choose and can't stay any more? Something like that, I think, might work a little better.

On the whole, though? Really, really liked this. Especially the way she is at the end, all happy and living for the moment. =D

Ack. This gave me warm fuzzies. X3 It was very good, very beautiful, and very... well, both of them. :) You deserve many props for such great work.

Okay, that is 100% amazing. Just unbelievably excellent. I LOVED it!