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Gippal's Girl

By Ringy-P

"You know there doesn't seem to many girls on this ship," Baralai observed from his position by the rail.

"Oh, looking for something," Gippal pounced onto the topic. They were male and the opposite sex, and what you were supposed to do with them was bound to come up sooner or later.

"No," Baralai blushed, "just saying." He stopped talking because the younger man was laughing at him. "Well, Paine is the only girl I've seen."

Paine shrugged.

"We aren't here for girls." Nooj said from where he was standing in the middle of the deck.

"There is always time for girls," Gippal stretched one leg out and grinned. "You got to remember why we're fighting, even if you only talk about them. So, Nooj, what do you look for in a girl? I know what I want of course, but I want to hear your ideas."

"I don't," Nooj said shortly. "I don't have much use for them."

"Nooj, I think you have just left the male human race, how can you not like girls?" Gippal drawled from his place on the deck. Nooj turned and frowned.

"I didn't say. I didn't like girls. I just don't have much use for them." Nooj refuted the blonde Al Bhed with the patch over one eye.

"Well, I have plenty of use for them," Gippal snorted. "Like-"

"There's a lady present," Baralai reminded him.

"Oh, sorry Dr. P," Gippal looked over at Paine and smiled. "I've worked excavation so long, sometimes I forget."

"It isn't like you had manners in the first place," Paine muttered.

"Oh come on, you got to have the same use for males that I have for girls." Gippal smirked and pointed at her. 'I'm sure most of her problems stem from sexual frustration, yeesh girl. Get laid,' he thought.

"Two respect points," Paine muttered. 

Gippal shook his head and sighed. "A death seeker and a prude, looks like we're the only sane people here Baralai."

"Define sane," Nooj muttered.

"I'm sure someday you'll find a girl whose willing to soften that machine you have in replacement for a heart," Gippal fired back at him.

"Yeah and you'll find a girl who'll burst your ego." Nooj snorted.

"Not possible, any girl of mine can only boost it." Gippal guffawed.

"So, Gippal, it sounds like you got a girl?" Baralai retook control of the conversation. Since he had started it by mentioning the lack of girl's on the boat originally.

"Yeah," Gippal paused and his lips quirked, "sort of."

"What's she like?"

"Blonde, swirled green eyes, short and spunky." Gippal shrugged and a wicked gleam came to his remaining eye. "You, Baralai?"

"No, but I'm looking," Baralai said smoothly.

Gippal looked between him and Paine. "You probably don't need to look far." The two of them gave him death glares and he raised his hands laughing. "All right, all right, yeesh. You people take things so seriously, you got to relax."

--

three years later

'Rikku is being awfully secretive about that Sphere,' Paine thought. She watched Rikku's back as she got farther and farther away from where Paine and Baralai were ambling toward's Djose. Paine unconsciously scrubbed her palms together in a vain attempt to get rid of the sand off the gloves. 'She ran out of Home's ruins like her ponytail was aflame and ordered Brother to take us here. We barely even had time to tell Yuna where we were going without her, not that she cares much with Tidus around.'

"So, what brings you here?" Baralai asked, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Rikku," Paine replied. "And you?"

"Yevon League business," Baralai shrugged.

"Isaaru holding down the fort in Bevelle then?"

"I never thought having a second would be so handy," Baralai turned his head to look at her. The conversation paused and Paine looked over the bridge's rail to look at the water in the inlet. 

"So Gippal's girl just arrived?" A male voice said in Al Bhed and caught Paine's attention, Baralai not forgotten but displaced for this new source of information.

"Perhaps we'll finally see some action between them!" Another male answered. Paine looked about for the source of the conversation, her attention instantly attracted by the mention of 'Gippal's girl.'

'Oh, something I can tease him about.' She thought.

"I wouldn't mind some action from her, she's hot." The first voice jeered. Paine looked over her shoulder and saw one masked and one Al Bhed wearing goggles jogging towards the temple.

"Me either, but don't let Gippal know. He's possessive."

"If he was possessive he should possess if you know what I mean? Wrap his hands about that tiny waist and get it on."

Paine frowned and paused for a moment to watch the two males jog by and get out of hearing range, Baralai noticed and turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?"

"They mentioned something about Gippal's girl." Paine crossed her arms and cocked her head. She wasn't going to mention the actual conversation. Baralai was much too straight laced for that.

"Gippal's girl?" Baralai bit his lip. "Man, that was a long time ago."

"Blonde, swirled green eyes, short and spunky," Paine mono-toned. "Do you know exactly how many Al Bhed girls that describes? He was so damned ambiguous and now she's here." Her eyes narrowed. "I've always wanted to meet her."

"I know that look, you are thinking you can get a hook into him." Baralai grinned. "You're right though, that description was out of character for Gippal." Paine gave a small smile and started walking again. "I didn't notice it until I started seeing Al Bhed all over Spira," Baralai said and locked step with her. "And by then I wasn't worried about who Gippal's girl was, must have buried that in the back of my mind. You know, on the list of things I had to do. Protect Vegnagun and discover Gippal's girl."

"You're beginning to sound like him," Paine shook her head. She looked down to make sure she didn't trip on the irregular 'stairs' between the bridges.

"I'm learning to you know, how did Gippal put it, relax." There was a pause he started to navigate the stairs, his longer legs taking them quicker than her. So he reached the bottom first. "Uh oh," Baralai muttered.

Paine looked up. Her deep red eyes widened as she saw the petite, tanned, blonde figure hanging onto a doubled over Gippal. She could hear his laughing over the water. Held in Gippal's hand was the sparkling amber sphere that they had discovered earlier that day. Gippal looked up at the person hanging onto him and said something. As he did Gippal stood up, the sparsely clad girl slid down so her booted feet touched the ground and his arm wrapped about her waist like it was the most natural thing in Spira.

It was with this irrefutable evidence before that Paine came to realize that Rikku was Gippal's girl.

--

Rikku giggled, she felt great. 'It's like five or six years worth of strangeness has finally come crashing down. And it's all because of one memory! I haven't felt this way around Gippal since we worked together on one of Pop's excavation rigs, and it was all Gippal's fault.'

"Rikku," Gippal raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, thinking," She grinned up at him.

He grinned back. "I'd forgotten about this." He weighed the sphere in his hand.

"Oh Yevon, and then remember when we got caught. We were repairing machina for a week." Rikku giggled.

"Not that it was much of a punishment. I told Brother not to record it. Cid had a fit." Gippal snickered as he remembered more than what the sphere had shown him.

"Pops is always having fits," Rikku waved a hand. "I think it's his only way of coping."

"Speaking of thinking, what were you thinking about earlier?"

It never occurred to Rikku to actually lie. "Us, and how we've been since you started acting so strange."

"Me, you're going to lay all the blame on me. You and you're skimpy little outfits, saving Spira and wandering feet." He scooped her up and started walking towards the bridge. "And the way I've been acting is all my fault."

"Gippal, don't you dare!" She shrieked. "Paine, help me."

Paine and Baralai had made it to the end of the bridge and we're still a bit shocked by Gippal and Rikku's antics.

"All my fault," Gippal shook his head and thrust her over the water.

"You make me wet, Gippal and-" Rikku sputtered and looked down to the water rushing below her.

"Oh that sound's promising," Gippal smirked.

"Son of a Behemoth!" Rikku cursed. "Put me down."

He dropped her.

"Aaaahhh!" Rikku screamed as she hit the water. Gippal leaned on the bridge rail and waited for her to come up. She surfaced a few seconds later, spitting water. She glared impotently up at him and tread water to stay afloat. "Oh, just you wait."

Gippal wiggled his eyebrows. "There you're wet, now what?"

Rikku grinned. "Time to make you wet!"

It was a like a large bucket of water came out of nowhere and drenched Gippal. He felt the air taken out of him. 'Fuck, that's cold.' He thought and shook his head, spraying water everywhere and sucked in air.

Paine and Baralai jumped backwards and Rikku swung up over the rail. She'd used one of the supports to climb up as her spell distracted him. "There, we're even." She wrung the water of her hair as Gippal wiped his eye.

"No. We're not." Gippal glared at her.

"Eep!" Rikku took off running. Gippal was right on her heels.

She dodged between petitioners and through the wind rushing in her ears could hear the loud laughter and jeers of the Al Bhed. She could also hear Gippal catching up. His boots we're squeaking and she giggled. She darted to the nook behind the agency.

Paine and Baralai looked at each other.

"I've been traveling with Gippal's girl," Paine whispered.

Baralai didn't say anything, he couldn't think of anything to say.

Gippal rounded the corner and smirked. "There's nowhere to run back here."

Her back was to him. "I wasn't going to run forever." Her voice was quiet.

Gippal came up behind her and placed his hands on her hips. "Then why did you try?" He murmured into her ear.

"I had things to do and so did you," she leaned back into him. "Things to prove, to ourselves and to others." She laughed.

He had to laugh with her, "at least you ran in a circle."

"Oh, I did all the running." She wiggled out of his hands and spun about to glare up at him. "You did plenty of running yourself. Cid's girl, indeed! You need to take me a bit more seriously."

"Oh, I take you very seriously." He grabbed her waist again and pulled her close. "Very seriously, indeed," he murmured. Rikku's eyes widened and her lips parted slightly. Gippal leaned down-

"Gippal!" Someone shouted.

Gippal sighed and pulled back. He looked over his shoulder to try to get an idea of how close the caller was.

"I know you've got your girl with you, but we really need your assistance."

Rikku's heart pounded and she licked very dry lips. Gippal looked back down at her and rolled his eye.

"I go away for five seconds and suddenly they're lost." He snorted. 'I was so close to finally kissing her, couldn't they have waited thirty more seconds.'

"You should probably go help them," she murmured.

"I don't want to," he whined. "But if I don't, they'll come looking." He slung his arm about her waist and snuggled her close to his hip and strode out of the nook. Rikku had to a quick hop, skip and a jump when he started walking cause he wasn't going to let her go.

"I'm not going to run again." She muttered and tried to free herself, and only managed to free the arm that was closest to her body, which was nice since he was squashing it. She placed it behind his back.

"Yeah, but I'm not done with you." Gippal said and glanced around the clearing. He noted Paine was leaning up against the bridge's pillar and shaking her head. Baralai was standing close to her not saying anything. "When do you think those two will get together?"

"Who?" Rikku craned her neck about to look.

"Paine and Baralai," 

Rikku started laughing. "Paine and Baralai?" She shook her head, "they are even more awkward that we are. No way, ever, would Paine and Baralai get together."

"Take a look," Gippal nodded at the bridge. "They stand too close to be mere friends. Think about it."

"You've had more time to watch them," Rikku scoffed. "Getting Paine to admit she likes anything is," Rikku failed to come up with a suitable comparison.

"We'll just have to encourage them then."

"Oh now that sounds fun, but I think the last time we encouraged a couple they ended up not talking to us for weeks."

"But we did get them together, though I doubt that they'll ever get over the methods we used."

"Perhaps we should leave well enough alone." Rikku rested her head on his shoulder. "We have enough problems."

"I still am amazed that you are thinking a bit more before you act."

"Thank Yuna, I saw enough of her being used as a doormat to follow suit." Rikku licked her lips.

"Hey, what's the big emergency?" Gippal finally found man who had interrupted him. 

"Machines going haywire on the Highroad!"

"Again!" Rikku yelped. "Oh Uncle Rin is so going to pay this time. I'm not like Yunie and so easily forgiving." She shook her fist.

"It sounds like they need Rippal." Gippal tilted his head back. "I don't like letting that get out of my hands though."

"Rippal would work," Rikku nodded. "You still have a copy."

"You kidding, I run all my machines with Rippal." He grinned at her. "It's the best code cause we made it."

"Another thing we got in trouble for," Rikku muttered.

"So if you mess up it cusses you out, what's the harm in that. If you mess up you deserve to be cussed out!"

Rikku laughed. "Why don't you let me deal with the machines and you get the code ready?"

He shoved her away. "Just come back, we weren't done with our conversation." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Rikku flushed and jogged towards Paine and waved back at him. "Paine, stop flirting with Baralai and come help me clean up Mi'ihen Highroad! Uncle Rin has machines on the rampage again."

Paine shoved away from the pillar. "Really, sounds like it could be fun." She nodded at Baralai and headed after Rikku. "Though, Rin needs to be hurt."

"That's what I told Gippal," Rikku grinned and put on some speed. "We can do that too when we finish with the machines."

Paine smirked, " Definitely sounds like fun, Gippal's girl." 

--

END STORY!

Ah, another one shot, what's gotten into me! Until next time!

Ringy-P