Above the Sea
by PrettyGothGirl
All Disclaimers Apply
Summary: Somewhere above the sea, shortly after Vegnagun, Gippal waits for Rikku to acknowledge them so they can keep a promise.
A/N: Okay, weird story, I was watching Finding Nemo (well, the credits to Finding Nemo) and got inspired to write this story. I'm not sure what this says about me. However, if you haven't ever listened to the song Beyond the Sea as sung by Bobby Darin. Please do so. And hey ya to xoVanillaBean!

He needed this conversation. They needed this conversation. Gippal leaned against the banister of the cabin in the Celsius. In fact, they needed to actually have a conversation instead of passing comments and banter that they'd been sharing for the past few months after what was years of silence. He crossed his arms and watched her hide behind her book. She couldn't really be reading it. She hadn't flipped a page in at least ten minutes. Ten minutes that he'd watched the sun glint off her hair and wished he were close enough to smell her and feel the heat of her body against his. She was doing a semi-successful job of ignoring him and he'd worked hard to make sure that this conversation would be private. Anikki and everyone else were on the bridge or in the engine room or even on the deck. Barkeep, the hypello didn't count. He was too involved with his beloved to even notice Rikku and Gippal on the balcony.

"You were supposed to wait for me." He said and he tried to keep it a simple statement and not an accusation or a petulant whine.

She dropped the book down enough so he could see her eyes just over the cover. "That's not my way." She reminded him and brought the book back up. He knew that, sands did he ever know that. If Rikku's name meant anything, it should have meant impatient.

He sighed and gave up trying to maintain his distance. He sat down on the couch next to her. "I went back for you." He tried not to inhale too deep. She smelled spicy, the way she had smelled back then, spice to cover the scents of oil, coolant, grease and dirt.

She swallowed. "I did too." One of her hands dropped to her thigh. "I looked for you every time."

He slid his hand over a little until it touched the back of hers. "I couldn't catch up to you, not even when you stayed in place for two weeks."

She flushed and set the book down. "I stayed there as long as I could. I hoped." She stopped and ducked her head down. Her hand slipped into his.

"And when," He rubbed her thumb for a few minutes to try and figure out how to say what he wanted to say next. He'd tried coming up with something for weeks and nothing sounded exactly right. Nothing still sounded exactly right. "We didn't keep our promise." He whispered, finally. "And you were embarrassed."

She squirmed and put her head on his shoulder. "I wasn't really embarrassed but-" she wiggled more, "Yunie and Paine were there and I, I don't know. It's stupid just-" She couldn't explain it, just like he couldn't explain how he refused to call her by her name and pushed her around because there were other people around and it had been so long that he didn't know if she'd felt the same even when her eyes and body had said yes.

"Two years, Rikku. Two years."

She looked up at him. "I know. There were things we had to do."

While that was true, it had felt more like her than him, her and making sure her family was happy. "We promised."

"You had all these other women!" She reared back, tears in her eyes. "I wasn't sure if it mattered anymore."

His jaw dropped. What? Where? Huh? "Other women? What other women? The only woman I have ever wanted is you."

"I've seen you charm them right in front of me and you get all friendly with them, even Yunie." She sniffled and turned her head away, though her hand was still in his.

"I don't mean too."

"Maybe were too different now." She said. He thought she meant that he was too different now because every change he'd seen in her was only for the better.

He inhaled sharply, feeling like he'd been shot in the gut. "I refuse to believe that."

"Do I miss you or do I miss the feeling you inspired in me? I- I don't know."

"What are you talking about?" Gippal's heart sped up until it felt like it would gallop out of his chest.

"Sometimes, sometimes you have to let go of the past to move forward. Let the memories be memories."

No. No. Anything, anything but Rikku saying they needed to move on. "It can't be done. We didn't even get started." He licked his lips and tried not to let his panic overtake him. "And sometimes is not all the time."

"I'm not like Yuna or Lulu. I'm never going to be like them. I'll always be me. I don't know how to be ladylike the way they are." She still wouldn't look at him. "I'm just Rikku." She sounded defeated by that fact. He wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled and sense returned to her skull. He didn't want a Yuna or a Lulu, whoever Lulu was. He wanted Rikku. He knew she aspired to be a lady, but this was ridiculous. She could be a lady and still be herself. She continued after a few seconds of silence. "Things don't work out for me like they do for them. I'm not that lucky, no matter how much I want a happy ending."

If Paine had anything to do with this, he was going to find her and hurt her. Being shot in the back had turned the girl cynical and she shouldn't be infecting Rikku with that nonsense, especially if it affected him. "You're talking crazy. Rikku. Look at me." She shook her head rapidly and hunched her shoulders up, her hand gripping his so tightly that he could barely feel his fingers. It was like if she let go, everything she said would be true and she didn't want it to be that way. "I can prove it. Please."

She turned her head, eyes too large for her face. "How?"

"We just have to keep our promise."

Her lips parted and he took it as a yes because he sure as hell wasn't going to take no for an answer. He leaned down and pressed their lips together. He didn't put much pressure behind it. He didn't want their first kiss in two years to be that way. Her breath caught in her throat. She sobbed or gasped, he wasn't sure which. He broke contact briefly and kissed her again. This time she responded. He didn't know how, but her body twisted and her free hand was entangled in his hair at the base of his neck. He cupped the small of her back and closed his eyes.

He only opened them again to break the kiss and rest his forehead against hers. "See." He smiled.

A smile bloomed across her face and she rubbed her nose with his. "Maybe you should show me again." Tear tracks made her cheeks slightly shiny. He wiped them away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm not going to leave you again." He promised.

"What if I leave you?"

He frowned. "Then I'll have to come after you and rescue you from whatever mischief you've gotten into."

She giggled. "I don't need rescuing."

"I can pretend." He paused. "About that happy ending." He tilted his head quickly and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "We'll make it happen." He smirked. "Or else."

"Or else what?" She entwined their fingers together.

"Or else I'm going to be very grumpy." He pretended to pout.

She laughed and captured his bottom lip in a kiss before he could stop. He pulled her into his lap. Ifs weren't certainties and right now, he was content to live in the moment.

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