Rikku stared at the floor before sighing, with a bitter kind of amusement.

"We're doing it again," she said. "Right now. You're closing off, and I'm closing off, and why can't we just ..."

Just what? Be honest with each other? That was terrifying, the idea of just opening her mouth and letting words come spilling out. Ones that could actually tell how she was feeling, and not leave her room to hide behind.

"I d-don't want to lose you," she said, in a small, tiny voice that hardly sounded like her at all.