Gomen ne! I haven't been here for a while; neither has Chrissy-chan, but whatevers. SO; I have written a little GippalxRikku story here. I've decided to make this story rather long. So chapter two will be up as soon as I get a few reviews. I still needa think of everything, ya know? So, 'scuse any spelling and grammar errors here. X.x I'm not that good at anything; as you should know. Also, I'll have the Al Bhed translations at the BOTTOM OF EVERY CHAPTER. 'Kay? Good. Now let's get this started, ne?

Pairings; Gippal x Rikku

Length; 4, 318 words

Disclaimer; Sadly, I do not own Final Fantasy; Squeenix does. Kay? If I did, Rikku and Gippal would be together forever. Hehe.

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. C H A P T E R . O N E .

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Sure, sure. Being a princess is such an amazing life-style. You have servants everywhere. You've got whatever you need just at your fingertips. All you have to do is say the word. It's always been (and probably will be) as simple as that, y'know? But Yevon…

Being a princess is definitely NOT what it's cracked up to be.

Princess Rikku. Or, even Lady Rikku. Dear Spira, how many times have people called me that before? Sure, when I was little, I did enjoy getting all that attention from people. It was nice, I suppose. But after a while, it got annoying. I didn't want to be known as Princess Rikku. I'd rather be just Rikku. Or Riks! Something like that.

My cousin, Yuna (or Yunie, as I call her), lives in a place called Radiant Garden. I can visit her sometimes, but she—just like me—is a Princess. Her dad, Lord Braska, is the ruler of that place. And here, in Spira, my dad, Cid, rules Spira. Though the Al Bhed and the Yevon people've had their differences, we've settled them all a long time ago. So long ago, I wasn't even born. But whatever. So basically, the Al Bhed aren't treated like scum anymore. No more stupid fights and everything. The Yevon people've accepted us even if we use machina. And since my dad's like the leader of the Al Bhed and everything, he's managed to become a leader of Spira. Or King of Spira

Being the daughter of the King made me the princess. So that's what I was.

Princess Rikku.

My seventeen years of life weren't bad. I wasn't spoiled. I did treat everyone nicely. I've had to take "lessons" from Raine (one of my caretakers in the castle I live in) about how to act sophisticated and whatnot; acting like a princess and stuff. And it's a hell of a lot of work!

When I was little, I remember my father taking me out just for a small walk. I was about five years old then. And when we passed a few people, they looked at us in awe. And that was only because we were, well, royalty. But I was little then. The only people I'd seen were the maids and the other people who worked in the house. On occasions, I saw my cousin Yunie. Everyone was dressed up nicely and elegantly; even us little kids. We had frilly, puffy dresses on at the age of four!

So when I saw those other people, I was confused. Didn't everybody dress like us? They wore clothing that looked similar to rags, some parts were even torn. The once bright colors faded away after washing the fabric too many times. It wasn't revolting. Rather… it was more shocking.

I'd asked my father about that later, and he told me that they weren't like us. We were one of the "special" people. We had more Gil then them only because he (Cid) ruled Spira.

Sometimes I wish I was like one of the simpleton. One of the little townsfolk we have. It didn't really seem hard. Not all of them were rich; I knew that for sure. But, life couldn't be too bad, could it? They just had to work. Have jobs and stuff. Like working on machina!

And Shiva; did I love machina.

It was… a guilty pleasure of mine, you can say. Since my father's good at machina, he does have his own company. Collaborating with other Al Bhed around Spira, they make machina for everyday use. Simple, basic, machina that we've always had. And my dad has a little factory-type-thing where he helps with everything. Since I'm a girl, I'm not supposed to work with machina. The fact that I'm a princess didn't even help. So here I was. A little kid with a big interest in machina.

And what did I do?

I snuck out.

I'd sneak into the factory (I've been doing this for a lot of years, now) and tinker with some of the toys. The guys there thought it was cute. So I'd made them promise not to ever, ever tell my dad. And they didn't. Even to this day. I still go there now, even at seventeen years old. I help some of the workers when my dad's not around. And it's fun. But I always remember to wash myself after that. I could have some oil streaks on my face and my dad would simply freak if he saw them.

So here I am. Royal Princess Rikku. Seventeen years old. And, to my—err—misfortune, single. It's kind of hard getting a boyfriend if you're the daughter of a King. Cid wants to "keep an eye on me" as he so puts it. But every time I hear that, I just roll my eyes.

And so, being that my little "status" has been single for seventeen-straight-years, Cid's decided to do the unexpected. I knew a day like this would come, eventually. But… does it matter what I have to say in this? Does it matter on whether I actually want to wait a little longer? Does he have to rush this?

No. Nothing I say matters. And yes, he has to. He was getting "old" and needed someone to take his place when he retires. Not me. No, a man. One to be my… Spira's King.

Cid wants me to get married.

--

"WHAT?" I shrieked. It wasn't everyday your father had told you this. Especially when you had a father who barely let you look at a guy without questioning you if you're interested in him. I mean, come on! I just look at a person. Big deal! But no, he has to make a big deal of everything. He says it's only to protect me, but still!

My eyes locked onto my father. He wasn't kidding. Was he? The look on his face… Shiva, it wasn't an oh-yeah-I'm-just-joking one, it was an I'm-dead-serious look.

My jaw dropped. Anger boiled inside of me. This was WEIRD. He was just expecting me to pick some guy I didn't even know and marry him? Just for the sake of Spira? Oh my Yevon. Things were certainly not going my way today.

"VYDRAN! I'm only seventeen—" I told him, emphasizing my age. "—I don't want to get married yet!" Well, that was partially true. Of course I wanted to be married sometime soon. But, with someone I loved. That's how marriage SHOULD be.

Just look at everyone else in the village! It was all love that brought them together. Not a father…

Cid just waved his hand at me. "Yes, but, I'm getting old—"

"Obviously…" I muttered angrily.

My dad ignored that comment and just continued. "—and I need someone to take my place. That's why yer gonna have ta get married." He said nodding. "It's fer the good of Spira if they have a new, n' young leader. Now, I've already made a selection of a few men that you can—"

I never heard the rest. I didn't bother on trying to here it anyways. I just… blanked out. I couldn't hear him talking. All I could hear was my thoughts inside. And those thoughts were telling me to kill him. I almost considered doing so for a second. But there was nothing to attack him with.

Me.

Married.

With someone.

Someone I don't even know.

Thinking about that caused me to scream.

Loudly.

"VYDRAN!" I shrieked again. My hands balled into fists at my sides. "YOU EXPECT ME TO MARRY A GUY I DON'T EVEN KNOW?!"

He looked at me dumbfoundedly. "That's a more… blunt way to put it. But yeah; yes I am." He said. And that's all he said. He continued to talk about how he had got a few men and he just needed me to pick one of them. It was all I heard before I stormed out of the room.

He called after me. But hell, I didn't care.

I just walked out.

--

A few of the maids looked at me. Some of the gardeners did so as well. But I ignored them all and kept walking. I walked into the big valley (well, it's like a valley anyways) we have in the back of the castle, and just kept walking. It was hard, in those shoes I had to wear. And wearing a dress was no easy thing either; so I stumbled here and there, but I kept walking, despite the pain. I wound up at the fountain a long time afterwards. It was my favorite place (other than the factory) to be. No one came here. Except for the garden workers, that is.

I sat by the edge of the fountain and let my hand dip into the cool liquid. I pulled it back immediately as it touched the water though. Jeez, was it cold. But as my hand adapted to the temperature, I let it go back in; moving my hand so tons of ripples formed in the water. It always seemed to soothe me. Pops said that my mom would do that. She'd bring me here and put my hand in the water, just moving it back and forth. I'd calm down when she'd do that. And it still worked now.

I looked at my reflection in the water and tilted my head slightly. Little drops were falling down, and I looked up. A little rain drop plopped against my nose. More soon fell after that and I closed my eyes.

It was times like this that I would enjoy.

But Cid'll kill me if I got wet. So I took off my shoes and held them both in one hand, the other holding up the lower part of my dress so I can run freely across the grass. The water droplets made the grass colder and slippery. I skidded across them at times, but made it back safely.

Safely and wet.

Not soaking wet.

I put my shoes on and ran inside. Maybe Cid just gave up waiting for me? He'd probably be at the factory. It seemed like I was in the clear.

I stepped into my room. It was all the way on the third floor. I had a pretty good view of everything there. My room wasn't a frilly pink-princessy color. But it was a nice shade of yellow and green. Those two were my absolutely favorite colors. Though, my dad didn't allow any dresses of mine to be those colors. They're always either a pink, puce, or purple color. Something more… feminine.

It sickened me.

I closed the door behind me and went into my closet. I needed a dry dress. So, I picked out the first thing I saw. It was pretty much a normal one. Something you might wear at a party, or whatever. It was a dark pink color; with little sleeves with puffs at the end, the bottom was all frilly and white. Though, I disliked it, I wore it anyways. It wasn't like I had anything else to wear anyways. When I finished changing, I put my hair in a messy bun, with little braids falling out and bangs hitting against my face. (A/N: She looks a bit like herself in Final Fantasy X, but she has the beads and braids in her hair, instead of what she had in that game.) I sighed. My face was still wet, so the little pieces of hair clung to my face. It was annoying but I decided not to do anything about it.

I plopped on my bed and looked up at my ceiling. What would it be like to just NOT be a princess for one day? I'd really like to do that. Then, maybe I'd be able to actually have fun around here. Sneaking out into the factory was cool, yeah, but troublesome at times too.

Then I got thinking about the townspeople again. What would it be like to be like them? What would it be like to live the way they do?

I smiled. That would be nice.

But I didn't get to think for long, since I drifted away into sleep shortly after that.

--

Raine came in my room, knocking on my door frantically. Was there trouble? When she found me sleeping, however, she looked relieved. I woke up as soon as she entered my room.

"We thought you were missing!" She gasped.

I blinked. Missing? Didn't anybody see me come back inside the castle? Oh, well, it didn't matter anyways. Raine hugged me and walked out the door, saying: "Dinner's ready downstairs if you'd like." before she left.

Dinner? How long was I sleeping?

I jumped off of the bed and rushed downstairs. I was starving.

--

Dinner wasn't too bad. The food, of course, was great. But just… being there: it wasn't bad. Cid was a little mad that I left it was kind of awkward. We didn't talk much, to my happiness, but he did tell me everything he said again.

"Pops…" I groaned. "What if I don't want to marry?" I asked him.

Cid laughed and just patted my head, as if I was a pet. "Sure, sure."

My eyes like popped out of my head. Was he kidding me? Did he not believe me? Well; apparently so! I really wanted to kill him again.

--

I woke up the next day completely relaxed. It was good to just sleep the day away. Or, rather, everything that happened yesterday. And as I slept and dreamt, I had a fantastic idea. What if I was to spend a day out in the public? That would be pretty fun! Cid was busy today, he told me this after dinner. He said he was going to be busy today, spending a lot of time in the factory. Which would be a-okay with me, since I was going to go out to my… err, people?

Raine came in my room to find getting ready to go out. She blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Lady Rikku, where are you going?" She asked curiously.

I turned to her and flashed her a smile. "Somewhere." I replied quickly.

Raine nodded. "Shall I get the carriage?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm walking."

A gasp came from the female and I laughed a bit. "Sheesh; calm down. Nothing's gonna happen." I reassured her, still laughing a bit.

Though she nodded, I could see the worry in her eyes. It was kind of cute, though. She watched over me just as if she was my mother. It was nice to have someone like that.

I departed from the castle and began to walk. My dress today was a purple color. It was easier to walk in, since it didn't go all the way down to the floor. I had my hair up in the usual style (A/N: her hair-style in X-2) and little chocobo feather earrings to accompany my ears. I loved Chocobos. I'd go to Mi'ihen and ride them there whenever I could get the chance.

Everything was going fine. I was walking further and further away from the castle. More towards the nearest town to us. Djose. It wasn't poor; nor was it rich. It was just in the middle. So my dad had told me anyways. He said that there where some Al Bhed that lived there. Not all of them were good with machina, he added.

My eyes widened as I looked at the place. It was really… something. I've never seen a place like this before. The place looked a bit bleak, but with the sunlight, it looked lively. Maybe it was just the landscape…

I smiled in awe.

Maybe this was going to be much better than being back at the castle.

--

The hours quickly passed by. I stopped (more like the people stopped me) to say hi to some of them. It was like they had never seen a princess before. Maybe they actually hadn't? Nighttime quickly fell upon Djose. And I was lost. It wasn't like me, really. But since I had no past knowledge of this place before, I was already bound to lose my place if I didn't have anyone to help me with my way here.

I pouted. This wasn't good. Not only was I lost; but it was nighttime too. Cid should be finished with whatever he's doing at the factory anytime soon now!

Most people were indoors now. It was time to put the kids to sleep anyways. I didn't want to bother them just so they can tell me where to go. So I kept walking. I managed to walk all the way into this field. There was grass everywhere. It reminded me of the valley back at the castle. So I just plopped down onto the grass and looked up. There were a lot of stars out tonight. It was beautiful. It was nothing in comparison to what I've seen back at the castle.

Though it was cold, I stayed there for some time. It was peaceful. I'd really like to spend more and more time here. Being cooped up at the castle wasn't that good. It wasn't fun.

I closed my eyes and rested there. I thought I was alone; but I was proven wrong quickly after.

A pair of feet shuffled towards me. I could hear the sound of twigs breaking underneath the other person's feet. I moved my head, opening my eyes to find who had come here. And all I could do was let my jaw drop.

It was a guy. And Spira, was he something.

He had blonde hair (just like me; maybe he was an Al Bhed?) that was kind of spiky. He was definitely older than me. He had an eye-patch on his left eye (if you looked at him) and wore clothes like the rest of the people around here. Not too shiny and stuff, simple and a bit ragged. But on him, it looked good.

When he saw me, I guess he could've thought the same thing. But, not on whether I looked "good" or not, but "what was a princess doing here?" Somewhere along those lines, I think.

He tilted his head to the side and raised a brow. (This almost made me swoon) "What're you doing here?" He asked. It was almost like he wanted me to leave. True, I was kind of disappointed at that, but I didn't show it.

But what I didn't understand, was why he wasn't calling me Lady Rikku, or Princess Rikku. Or anything fancy-shmancy! I did get a little… mad, but I shook it off. I have always wanted to not be called by those two names. But not being called by any name was kind of weird.

"I—uhm…" I paused. What was I supposed to say? Did it actually matter? Wait; why am I actually worrying about this? "I came here to check this place out." I finally said.

He nodded and came closer, sitting down right next to me. "Really? It's not like we ever get a princess just 'round here. It's kinda... odd, I guess." He said. His attention was focused up at the sky. Mine, was directed on him.

"That's odd." I said. "Well then," I grinned. "Then you must be honored to have me here." And then I grimaced at that comment. That sounded like such a Princess-y thing to say. So stuck-up and conceited. Shiva, I should've died right then and there.

But he chuckled instead of giving this huge speech of how he actually WAS honored. He turned to me and grinned. "Sure, sure." My eye's caught onto his. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see the spiral pupil in his eye. He was definitely an Al Bhed. "So, Princess, do you know my name?" He asked me grinning.

I shook my head, blushing slightly. "I wish," I admitted laughing.

He laughed with me and grinned; pointing his thumb towards himself, he spoke again. "It's okay. My name's Gippal." He said.

'Gippal' I thought. 'I like it.'

I smiled and nodded. "Right. I'll remember that, Gippal."

Gippal grinned. Oh, I really liked it when he did that. "Right, so uh, Lady Rikku—"he began, but I stopped him. I placed my hand up and shook my head.

"No. Don't call me that."

"Princess Rikku?"

"Nope."

"Rikku?"

I paused. Was that what I wanted? I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, just Rikku."

Gippal raised a brow and tilted his head to the side. "Why's that?" He asked me. I sighed.

"I hate people calling me by that. All they see me as is… that. Princess Rikku. Or Lady Rikku. I want something different." I explained. "Rikku's fine… I guess. But I want something unique. Something that no one ever called me." I added.

He paused. Gippal placed a hand on his chin and looked deep in thought. He was probably thinking of how weird I am. Or maybe thinking of a way to get the hell out of here.

"Cid's Girl."

I blinked in confusion. What in Spira was this man talking about? "Um, what--?"

"Cid's Girl." He repeated. A smile formed on his lips and he nodded. "Yeah, Cid's Girl. That's what I'll call ya." Gippal declared happily.

Cid's Girl? That was… certainly something. I was Cid's little girl. His daughter. I smiled. This was what I've always wanted. And that was probably the best thing anyone could ever call me.

I grinned and nodded. "That's freaking cool!" I exclaimed in delight.

Gippal laughed. "Not very princess-like, eh?" He said nudging me with his elbow. I giggled and nodded. "Well, it's not like I have to put up the princess-y act all the time." I told him.

He laughed and looked up at the sky. "Anyways, what're you doing out here. Isn't the 'King' expecting his daughter back home?" Gippal asked me.

Oh. No.

He was right! Cid was probably expecting me to be back at the castle right now. It was getting pretty late now; considering the fact that the sky had darkened quite a long time ago. I gasped and stood up abruptly. "You're right." I replied. I bit my lip and looked around.

Crap.

And even now I was still lost. Sensing my anxiousness, Gippal stood up too. He was tall. Like, really tall. Sheesh. Now, I'm not short. I'm just… five feet and two inches for crying out loud. This guy… he was almost six feet tall, I think.

"Lost?" He asked.

I pouted and crossed my hands in front of my chest. "Maybe." I said.

Gippal laughed and gestured for me to follow. "C'mon, I'll getcha back home." He said.

I know I shouldn't trust strangers. I know I shouldn't go somewhere without my father's permission. But this was my only way to get out of here. And besides; maybe Cid'll like the idea that I got out and away from the castle. And, I made a new friend too!

But, Gippal seemed nice. He sure was nice anyways. So what could I lose?

He turned around and grinned. He was a bit far away from me, only because I stopped to think. Waving he smirked.

"Geez, Cid's Girl, don't tell me you can't walk in that dress. Hurry your royal ass and follow me."

And I just grinned and followed.

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. E N D . C H A P T E R .

Al Bhed Translations;

Vydran - Father

Oh dear; that was quite a long chapter from me. Hahas. Anyways, that's chapter numero UNO. If I get a few reviews, I'll put the second chapter up soon. I promise. Each chapter's quite long, so it might take me a while. No rushing.

:D

PLEASE READ & REVIEW. I will SERIOUSLY appreciate this. : No flaming though; I dun want to have any meanies here. Yeah. :O SO PRESS THE LITTLE BUTTON IN THE LEFT CORNER THAT SAYS SUBMIT REVIEW, YOU PRESS THE GO BUTTON. YES? DO IT. IT MAKES YOU SMARTER. REALLY. :D