Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy Series is owned, copyright, and trademarked by their respective owners. I take no credit nor do I own (or claim to own) anything Final Fantasy related in my stories.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't played and/or completed both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 then you may be a little lost when reading this story as it contains things from both games.

ANOTHER CHANCE
A Final Fantasy X Fanfic

Prologue

The pain in her chest ran through her whole body as she doubled over onto her knees. She clutched a couple heaps of grass in her hands holding onto them so tight that her tan knuckles were as white as the snow at Lake Macalania. In her mind the grass was her sanity that would certainly float away if she ever let it go. Her sobs were uncontrollable as her body heaved--the distress made her physically sick. It was all too much. Why had her cousin done it? The Fayth had given Yuna a choice! She could have brought him back! How could she have accepted that he was gone? She wouldn't accept it--she couldn't accept it.

Rikku lifted her head staring at the pyreflies that enveloped the Moonlilies through bloodshot eyes. She had overheard Yuna telling Lulu how she remembered that he had wanted to see them. Rikku had taken solace in the spot many times after that. Now he would never get to see them.

Closing her eyes she lowered her head again. Her hair brushed across the ground getting grains of dirt in her blond hair. Her knees were already scrapped with where she had fallen on a few tiny pebbles and her nails had brown mud underneath them. She didn't care, though. She stood, not bothering to dust herself off, and continued to stare out at the river--glowing like a sea of stars.

"That man seems rather font of you." A voice behind her stated.

Wheeling around quickly, Rikku prepared a battle stance. A small boy stood wearing a purple hood that hid his eyes and revealed only the bottom half of his tan face stood calmly behind her, unaffected. Her green eyes, still glistening with fresh tears, widened in complete shock. Has she finally lost it or was this boy really standing in front of her? And who was he talking about? She relaxed herself and wiped her eyes with a small hiccup.

Turning her head slightly to the side she saw Gippal standing far from her in the distance. He paced back and forth uncertainly. One hand rubbed the back of his neck while the other had his face buried in it--he looked worried. She'd asked him for a ride from the Djose Temple, but never expected him to stay with her. A high pitched groan escaped her lips and she immediately she felt guilty for worrying him, but she couldn't just shake off the more pressing pain she felt--she loved Gippal, but she wasn't in love with him. Not like she was with him.

"Don't cry." The boy said. "You want to see him again." His tone never changed with his statements, they were all emotionless and factual.

"Yes." Rikku squeaked, her hands clasped together. She was clearly begging the boy in front of her, unsure of how things would work out. How did the Fayth know what she wanted--she wasn't connected to them in the way that Yuna had been. That fact that they stood before her now was something like a miracle.

"I can't promise anything." He said. "But I'll see what I can do."

A small smile that you could barely see appeared on the corners of his lips. Rikku tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows in confusion. Would she really…?

The boy was gone. She was left alone in front of the Moonflow with the guilty thoughts of hurting Gippal in the back of her mind. But she had to see him again. She had to tell him how she felt, even if he didn't feel the same way. She needed him.

Taking a seat on the ground, she continued to peer out at the waters. The pyreflies surrounding the waters shifted their flight patterns and floated over in her direction. They surrounded her in a wave of iridescent hues that were magical and beautiful. She could faintly hear the sound of her name being called, but it sounded as if it were coming from two places at once.

"Rikku!" She could hear Gippal yelling.

Rikku… She could hear him saying.

Everything around her seemed to melt away. It soon faded like a watermark on a white background.