A/N: I promised myself I would never write oneshots about the main characters, I guess I lied to myself...

Enjoy!

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Lightning once again struck, landing on the far side of the nearby dune. However, this was quickly followed by a terrified cry, and then silence.

Tidus, always eager to help, ran ahead of the group, followed by Rikku and Wakka. By the time they reached the site, it was too late.

A body lay in the middle of a still smoking crater. Skin charred beyond recognition. The only clue to its gender was the burnt cloth that now clung to each wound, but there was no way to tell who it was.

"She's dead," said Auron, looking down on the scene through his only good eye. "There is nothing we can do but send her," he added as he walked past the small puddle that was gathering around the corpse.

"Yes," answered Yuna as she began her dance.

The ritual complete, the group began to move of again, but they did not get very far until Rikku yelled out.

"Hey wait!" she said as she ran back to the crater before walking to a nearby boulder. At its base could be seen a shape, moving slightly, but undistinguished from the surrounding colours. "It's a dog!" she called when she neared it. Gently picking it up, she carried the wounded creature back to the group.

"It is moments from death," said Auron looking at the beast, who like the body before, was severely burnt. "Leave it. Perhaps it may follow its master to the farplane."

"Auron! It's still alive, how can you be so mean?" she replied, features taught with anger at the man's callousness.

"Come," said Yuna, walking back down the Thunder Plains towards the travel agency at its centre. "If it is alive, there may be a chance the Al Bhed may be able to save it."

"Yuna, we don't have time! It will be dead long before we arrive!" he cried, noting the labouring breath of the creature inside Rikku's arms.

"But, we must try."

"As you wish Yuna."

They all began the walk back to the agency, Rikku running ahead, showing no fear of the thunder around her, with Yuna following not far behind. Kimahri walked up beside Auron, his features furrowed with worry.

"Yuna looks out for all life," he said simply.

"Like her father before her."

"Kimahri know this waste time. But Kimahri know this make Yuna happy. In quest to save all Spira, Yuna must save own conscience. If she left animal, it would die, but if she try to save animal, it might live."

"It's been so long, perhaps I have changed after all these years. Perhaps I have drifted from the sensibilities of the living. You are wise Kimahri."

"No, Kimahri know Yuna. Kimahri did as you ask many years ago."

Without a further word, Kimahri walked past Auron so he could keep Yuna within his sight.

---

They reached the Al Bhed shop quickly, much more quickly than Auron had expected, and the dog was still alive, barely.

When he entered, the Al Bhed within had taken the beast from Rikku's arms and had retreated to a back room to use whatever machina they thought might help. Surprisingly, not even Wakka was against the machina, or at least not as much as usual.

"If it can save that dogs life, then I suppose I can live with it, ya? I'll be like the Maester, pretend I didn't see it." Though he joked, Auron could tell he was anxious about the machina, but even more so about the animal, as was Lulu whose cold exterior was flushed with concern.

"Hmm," he chuckled as he retreated to a corner.

Noticing him chuckling, Tidus walked up to him. "What's so funny old man?" he asked.

"Nothing. It's just that dog; it reminds me of myself, ten years ago. Braksa had just defeated Sin, and I had lost my master…"

Confusion fluttered on Tidus' face. "Eh?"

"I once had a dog too. Twice actually. When I was a boy, before I joined the monks, my parents had bought me one. Their last act before Sin killed them. I cherished that dog, but when I signed up to the monks order, I was not permitted to keep it. In retrospect, it was a simple decision, the last gift of dead parents, or join the people that help the Summoners defeat Sin. But I was arrogant. I refused initially, but while walking him one day, Sin attacked. It was a relatively pathetic strike, but it was enough. I changed my decision the following day.

"And then there was your Zanarkand. For about a year of living there, I grew homesick. Looking out for you was not enough to keep my mind focused. I found a dog in one of the stores near your home, but it never obeyed me. It knew there was something not quite right about me. It ran away within a week."

"Eh?" repeated Tidus.

"Don't worry, you'll soon learn what I mean," said Auron quietly.

"How come I never saw it?"

"I did not want to distract you from your life. I know how animals can take the hearts of the young," he said, pointedly glancing at Rikku, hovering with anxiety near the doorway through which the Al Bhed had retreated.

From behind the door, the Al Bhed attendant emerged, a grave look clear on her face beneath the goggles she wore.

"I am sorry," she said simply.

Rikku looked close to tears, and Auron feared that it may have become much harder to convince her to leave the shop to continue the pilgrimage. Yuna though walked through the doorway, and moments later, pyreflies could be seen leaving the room.

"Let us continue," she stated when she reappeared, receiving a thankful smile from Rikku.

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A/N: I thought this would turn out much better than this... oh well...