Keep on Talkin'

Rating: K- K+

Summary: A little insider about how Rikku and Gippal learned how to speak the Common Spiran Language.

"Hi, Gippal!" A little girl with blonde hair and swirled eyes said. A boy with spiked hair and an eye patch on his right eye raised his eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously.

"What did you say?" Gippal said in his natural dialect. Rikku cocked her hip out and put her tiny fist on it.

"I said 'Hi'!" Rikku said in Al-bhed. "Pops is teaching me how to speak the common language."

"Why would you wanna do that?" Gippal asked.

"Because my auntie spoke it, and…"

"And?" Gippal pressed, leaning back on an outer wall of Home.

"I have a cousin… She can't speak Al- Bhed because Auntie wanted her to have a normal life. So, I want to be able to talk to her in Common." Rikku finished with a smile. "Wanna learn it with me?"

Gippal looked at her. "Why would I want to do that?"

Rikku shrugged. "Maybe you'll meet some friends that can't speak Al-bhed…"

The nine year old boy scoffed. "Really? Next I'll be working with Yevonites…"

"Then just do it for me! Let's do it together! It'll be fun!" Rikku pleaded. Gippal looked at her for a minute, then put his hands behind his head with a sigh.

"Fine…"

Rikku smiled. "Thank you, Gippal! I'll go tell Vydran!" She said before running off.

Gippal sighed. "Hoo boy…"

Cid scratched his bald head as his daughter smiled up at him.

"And you're sure you want him to learn with you?"

Rikku nodded happily. "And he said he'd do it!" She turned to the blonde lady standing next to him. "It's okay, right mommy?"

"Cid," the lady said, "you know she has him wrapped around her finger."

"Marrin, I know. But-"

"Do you want your baby girl to cry?"

Cid looked down and saw Rikku welling up. He sighed.

"Fine, fine." He said. "I'll teach him, too…"

"Yay~! I'll go tell him!" Rikku said before running to go find Gippal.

"Why is she so attached to that boy?" Cid sighed. Marrin smiled.

"Because, he's got a bright future. When he puts his mind to something, he does it. He's a lot like Rikku." Marrin explained. "Learning Common might help them someday."

"Yeah, well, I still don't like it."

"She's only eight, hon." Marrin said. "Nothing's going to happen anytime soon."

Rikku found Gippal in the same spot she left him, this time, tinkering with some machine.

"Now, what are you doing?" Rikku asked. Gippal shrugged.

"Nothing important. It's just something Keyakku gave me." Gippal replied. "So, what did Cid say?"

"He said it was fine!" Rikku smiled. "When do you wanna start?"

"At your next lesson." Gippal replied. "When's that?"

"Tomorrow morning!"

Gippal sighed. "I'll go tell my mom then, I guess…"

"Can I come?" Rikku asked, beaming.

"Why?"

"Cuz I haven't seen your mom in forever! She's always nice and gives me cookies and milk!"

"I dunno why she's so nice to you." Gippal mumbled. "Fine, let's go."

Rikku laughed and followed Gippal to the apartment he shared with his parents. He got his small key out and opened the door. Both children were met by the smell of freshly made chocolate chip cookies.

"Hi, Ms. Tarra! Rikku said. "Whatcha makin?"

"I made chocolate chip cookies." The blonde lady behind the kitchen smiled. "Would you like some?" Rikku nodded wildly.

"Why don't you ever made stuff when it's just me and dad? You always make stuff for Rikku!"

"Because she's the daughter I never had."

"I should be enough." Gippal said.

"Oh, hush! Rikku's part of the family!" Tarra smiled, taking the cookies off of the cooling rack. "Aren't you, sweetie?"

Rikku nodded her head happily. "Of course! Guess what, Ms. Tarra?"

"What sweetie?"

"I'm learning Common! Vydran is teaching me!"

"So, what's what your mother was mentioning? She said that I should start getting Gippal to learn. Do you mind having a classmate?"

"I was gonna ask you that, mom." Gippal said, getting some glasses out for milk. He gave one to his mom, and kept one.

"What about mine?" Rikku asked.

"You're family." Gippal smirked. "Get it yourself."

Tarra put her hands on her hips. "Gippal, that wasn't very nice. Go get her a glass."

Gippal sighed, and went back to the cabinet to get another glass for Rikku and got the milk from the fridge.

"Here" He said, giving Rikku the glass. Then he gave his mother the carton of milk.

"Thank you!" Rikku said sweetly, giving him a 1000 watt smile. Gippal turned a little pink and scratched the back of his head.

"It's no big deal…"

Tarra smiled. 'What a cute couple…'

The next morning, Gippal trudged over to Rikku's apartment and knocked loudly. Cid opened the door and gave him a tired look.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is this where we're having the lessons?"

Cid scratched his head. "Damn near forgot about that… Okay, come in. I'll wake Rikku up."

Gippal heard Cid go into Rikku's room and also heard Cid say something along the lines of 'Rikku, there's a chocobo stampede.' A second later, Rikku ran out of her room, holding her giant chocobo plush doll.

"Where are they!"

"You'll get out of bed for giant chickens?" Gippal said with a chuckle. Rikku blushed.

"Shut up." She said in common, earning an annoyed look from Gippal.

"You know I don't know what you said."

"Duh! That's why I said it!"

Cid sighed deeply. "Now y'all know it's too damn early for arguin' like this! Both of y'all sit down and shut your mouths!"

Both children immediately sat down and shut up. Cid sat down in front of the kids after handing them some paper.

"Now, Rikku. Remember what I told you about Common?"

"Common uses letter substitution. If you know what letter substitutes what you can make a huge step in learning the language."

"Right. So, let's start from there. Now, Gippal, you always claim that because you're older, you're smarter. If you can't keep up with Rikku, I'll make sure your life's a living hell."

Gippal nodded, slightly scared. It was at that moment that he vowed to learn Common as well as a native speaker.

"So," Gippal said, meandering out of Rikku's apartment with said girl, "do you wanna go play at the Oasis?"

"What's at the Oasis?" Rikku said, her wide eyes open with curiosity. Gippal shrugged.

"I dunno. We could go swimming. Or look for treasure."

"Or maybe we could go digging… Or look for fiends." Rikku smirked.

"What?" Gippal asked. "I'm not even crazy enough to go fiend hunting without an adult."

"But it's not fair! Vydran takes Keyakku and Brother, and Buddy to go along with him for fiend-hunting, and I wanna go!"

Gippal sighed, then he smiled and pat her on the head. "Then why don't we head out to the Western Expanse? People accidently run into fiends there all the time."

"Okay!" Rikku said with a huge smile. She took Gippal's hand and they walked to a hover driver and asked him to take them to the Western Expanse.

~~~TIME SKIP- 4 Years~~~~~~

"Hey, Gippal! How's it going?" Rikku said in her near perfect Spiran accent. Gippal rolled his eye.

"How do you sound like such a native ? Gippal asked with a slight drawl. The twelve year old girl simply shrugged her shoulders, dangling her feet over a rock by the Oasis.

"I practice all the time." Rikku said simply. "I wanna sound perfect for Yunie!"

"Well, even Cid has an accent." Gippal smirked nudging Rikku a little bit.

"Rikku! Rikku!" Someone called out. Rikku looked up and saw a panic-struck digger towards them.

"What's wrong?" Rikku asked, converting to Al-bhed perfectly.

"It's your mother! There's been an accident, and you need to come quick!"

Rikku widened her eyes and quickly jumped down from her rock, Gippal quickly behind her. When they got back to Home, Rikku found Brother and they went to the emergency room, locking everyone else out. After a long time away from the rest of the Al-bhed, who were waiting with anxiety, Cid, Brother, and Rikku came out. The last found Gippal and took his hand.

"Sudran wants to speak with you."

Gippal looked at Rikku. She looked her exact opposite: not perky, tired, sad. Not sad, actually. It was more than that. It was more like devastated. He nodded and followed his friend to the hospital room. There were what seemed like hundreds of wires all over the room, all of them hooked up to Marrin. It took everything Gippal had not to gasp at her. Marrin smiled at him.

"I look horrible, don't I?"

Gippal stayed silent, which made Marrin slightly laugh.

"It's okay. I understand. I wanted to talk to you for a minute, with just Rikku. You two are so close. I want you two to stay like that. I want you two to take care of each other."

"Of course, Ms. Marrin! B-but you'll be around to do that, too!" Gippal said, a little scared.

"Oh, my sweeties… I wish I could say that I would be around for a while… But, unfortunately, I think it's going to be my time soon…"

"Sudran, you can't say that!" Rikku said, crying.

"My baby…" Marrin smiled. Rikku kneeled next to her mother's bed, tears still falling down her face. She grabbed hold of her mother's hand and held on tightly. Gippal saw the heart monitor start to speed up, and rushed out the room to get Cid, Brother and the doctor.

Rikku walked out of the room, sobbing and hanging onto her father. It was obvious what had happened, and immediately, the mood changed from anxiety to grief.

"Brother," Cid said, "come with me. I'm going to need your help." He finished. His voice was gruff with sorrow. He turned to Gippal.

"I'm going to have you take Rikku to your parent's place. She… might need to stay there for a couple days… Just until we figure things out."

Gippal nodded, and pried Rikku from her father. Cid kissed her on the top of her head before she latched onto Gippal.

"Take care of her, okay?"

Gippal nodded, and slowly walked with her to find his mother. She gave Rikku a huge hug and stroked her hair, whispering comforts in her ear. Rikku continued to sob and hiccup into Tarra's dress, her hand glued to Gippal's.

Tarra understood the problem, and as soon as she got into the apartment, she went to make up the guestroom. Rikku was on Gippal's back, having cried herself to sleep. When the room was ready, she was placed in the fresh bed and stayed asleep until the whole house was dark. She opened her eyes, and noticed the slightly familiar room, swallowed in darkness. She cut on the bedside lamp, and realized where she was. She sat up and hugged her knees close to her, slowly remembering what had happened. She crawled out of bed, and went to Gippal's room. Slowly opening the door, she tip toed in.

"Gippal?" Rikku asked, her voice quiet and broken. Gippal, who hadn't fell asleep yet, sat up and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Can I… sleep in here… with you?"

Gippal's face heated up, but he moved aside for her. Rikku crawled in and snuggled up close to him. He slowly wrapped his arms around her tiny body.

"Gippal?" Rikku asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared… About my Sudran…"

Gippal held her closer. "Don't worry. She won't turn into a fiend." He said quietly. Then he kissed her on the forehead. "I promise. And I'll protect you on the off chance it doest happen.

~~~~~~Time Skip- 2 years~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Gippal." Rikku called in common across the sands. Gippal popped his head up from behind a sand dune and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"You know how Pops is trying to train Brother to become the next leader?"

"Sure. What about it?" Gippal asked in Common. The way this conversation was going, it was best to make sure no one understood them.

"Do you really think he'd be a good leader?" Rikku asked.

"Please! I'd make a better leader than him! That bird brain doesn't even know how to say 'Hi' in Common! And his accent's so thick when he does try to speak, that no one would be able to him!"

Rikku thought for a minute. "Then why don't you become the next leader?"

"Wha-?" Gippal said, his left eye searching Rikku's tan, smiling face for any signs of joking. None, of course, were found. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, in a few years, do something to impress my dad and he'll throw the position at you." Rikku smiled. "But it has to be BIG! I mean HUGE!"

"Like beating Sin?"

"Maybe something like that." Rikku allowed. "Just don't get yourself killed."

"I'm too awesome for that." Gippal smirked.

"You'd hate the next step, though." Rikku laughed.

"And what's that?"

"You'd have to go and get engaged! I mean, knowing you, it wouldn't be hard to find a girlfriend, but to find a girl you'll spend the rest of your life with? No way is that gonna be easy!" Rikku laughed.

"It won't be hard for me, though." Gippal said. "I've already got someone in mind."

"Who?" Rikku said.

"I'm sure if you thought about it REAL hard, you'd figure it out." Gippal said with a huge smirk. Rikku pouted.

"No fair! I wanna know who this mystery girl is!" Rikku cried.

"Well, if she's not already taken by the time I beat Sin, then you'll be the first to know. I promise."

~~~~~~~~~ Time Skip- 1 year~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Gippal." Rikku said in Common. "You got a minute?"

The 16 year old boy looked up from his machine. "I dunno, Cid's girl. This is pretty important stuff."

"I have a name. It's Rikku. Anyways, what are you doing?"

"Just a little something something. Anyways, what's up?"

"I'm leaving in a week. I have an excavation to do over by Baaj Temple. And then after that, I'm going to look for Yuna, and I'm going to stop her pilgrimage."

"So, you're going to go find Yuna, and possibly have a run-in with Sin?" Gippal said. Rikku nodded. "And Cid's okay with that?"

"This is kind of his way of taking care of his sister in the end. They had a falling out when she fell for Uncle Braska, so…"

Gippal looked at her for a minute. "And you're doing the dirty work."

"Don't say it like that." Rikku replied. "And anyways, I still have to the end of the week, but I probably won't be able to hang out. I still need to get ready for the dig."

"I wouldn't have been able to see you anyways. I have something to take care of."

"What kind of thing?"

Suddenly, Gippal wrapped his arms around Rikku, making her freeze a little. She slowly returned the gesture.

"Something important. But you gotta promise to be careful."

"You have to promise, too, okay?" Rikku muffled into his chest. She looked up at Gippal, who was staring back at her. She smiled and pushed him away.

"I better get going. I need to start packing anyways." Rikku said. She started walking away, leaving Gippal trying to reach for a girl he thought he couldn't have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip- a couple months~~~~~~~~~~~

"Um… Rikku?" A blonde man with blue eyes and strange looking clothes.

"Yeah?"

"Why is that guy looking at me like that?"

Rikku looked in the direction the man was looking and smiled. "Oh, Tidus, don't worry about him. That's just Gippal." She explained, gesturing him to come over.

"Hey, Gippal." Rikku said with a smile, still masking her hurt. Gippal took her hand and pulled her off to an abandoned part of the ship.

"Gippal, what are-"

He suddenly hugger her tightly. "I thought you said you'd be careful."

Rikku smiled against his chest. "I AM being careful. I just have a couple of scrapes."

Gippal smirked and pushed her away. "So, now you're stealing my assignment."

"What assignment?"

"Remember?" Gippal asked. "You told me that to impress your old man, I had to do something really big. And I suggested that I beat Sin. But now, you and your cousin are gonna do it."

"It wasn't my idea. Completely. It was Tidus who voiced it." Rikku said.

"Who is that guy, anyway?"

"Well…" Rikku said, trying to find the right words. Then she snapped.

"He's my future cousin- in- law!" Rikku said with a smile.

"Oh. So that means your cousin's off limits." Gippal smirked. Rikku slapped his arm.

"There is no way I'm letting you hit on my cousin!" Rikku yelled. "I'm her guardian, so I'm protecting her!"

"Fine, fine…"

"Anyways, what happened to that mystery girl you said you wanted to marry?"

"Since you took my job, you're going to have to wait until I do something else impressive." Gippal said.

"Oui pek sayhea...(You big meanie…)" Rikku pouted, looking away from Gippal. He smirked at her and started to turn.

"Wait a minute!"

Gippal turned back around, and his mouth ran right onto Rikku's lips. It was quick, and when she pulled apart, she was a pretty red. She gave him a cute smile.

"Vun milg. (For Luck.)" She said before walking away. Gippal just stared at her as she left. That was honestly the first time he was left speechless.

~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip- 2 ½ years~~~~~~~~~~

"Will you tell me now?" Rikku asked.

Gippal gave her a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?" They were both visiting Bikanel and were hanging out at the Oasis again.

"Remember, you told me once you impressed Pops- which you did by founding the Machine Faction, and your help with beating Vegnagun- you'd tell me who the girl you wanted to marry would be!" Rikku cried in Al-bhed.

"Hoo boy…" Gippal sighed, reverting back to Al-bhed.

"C'mon! I wanna know who it is!"

"Okay, lemme ask you something. Do you still want a big family?" Gippal asked.

"Why are you changing the subject?"

"Just answer." Gippal smirked.

"Yes, I do! I want a million- bazillion kids!"

"Be serious."

"Okay, fine. Maybe four kids."

"Why four?" Gippal asked.

"Then it'll be me and my husband, and my four kids. That makes six. Then Tidus and Yuna and their eventual kids means at least ten. Then Brother and Calli are bound to get together. She's the only woman in a thousand mile radius to fall for him. So that's twelve, and Pops make thirteen, and adding the in-laws makes fourteen or fifteen. And that's just immediate family." Rikku said, finisheing with a huge breath.

"Nice math work." Gippal laughed. Rikku pouted.

"Thanks. Now can you tell me? Please! I'm dying here!"

"You are not."

"I AM TOO! How do you know anyways?" Rikku asked.

"I'm psychic."

"Nuh-uh! I'm closer to being a psychic than you!"

Then Rikku gave a little squeak when Gippal leaned over and captured her lips. She slowly closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, closing the slight distance between them. He leaned back and smirked.

"Then you should have seen that coming." Gippal chuckled. Rikku was still a dusted pink, with a slightly dazed look.

"That was dumb…" Rikku said after a minute.

"What?"

"What you said. It was dumb."

"Whatever. I have a good sense of humor." Gippal smirked.

"Sure you do. Let's just hope our kids don't get it." Rikku said, with a little eye roll.

Gippal's smirk grew as he pulled her closer to him.

Hope you liked it~! And with the psychic thing at the end, I was referencing the Psychicer dressphere that is in the international version of the game. Anyways, that's how I think they learned Common, even thought it really had just a tiny bit of them really learning it. Hope you enjoyed, and please review~! Lot's of Love~!