-1They stood at the edge of the world.
Looking out the mountains' slope emptied into the foothills and raced to smash into the ruins. Gippal shook his head and sighed, glancing back at the Al Bhed girl currently staring out at the sea beyond the devastation. The sun was setting over Mt. Gagazet, and the dying rays sent light striking her eyes, making the emerald depths appear far deeper then they were. Her blonde hair danced in the wind, strands falling in front of her eyes. But she didn't move them out of the way, just continued to stare at the ruined city and the sea beyond.
Gippal coughed quietly, and broke Rikku out of her reverie.
"It's time to go, Rikku."
"Yea, I know," she glanced up at him her eyes swirling with some emotion he didn't dare question. "It's just so sad, ya know? After everything that's happened, everything we've learned. To see how it used to be, and then…now. It makes me want to cry."
Gippal nodded. This wasn't the place for one of his usual crass remarks.
They turned, and walking down the steep path, heading into the destruction that was Zanarkand.
Rikku walked carefully through the rubble, stepping lightly over the debris that littered the ground. Every so often she glanced at Gippal, watching the other Al Bheds' progress through the devastation. Months after the defeat of Vegnagun, and the return of the Tidus, the Spiran Summit held their first meeting.
Rikku thought back to the odd and chaotic meeting, a smile flitting across her now somber face. Tidus, The Gullwings, Kimahri, Cid, Leblanc and Trommel, the leaders of New Yevon, Youth League, and even the Machine Faction, she thought with a grin, all had been present at the first meeting of the new government. They had hoped it would be a government that would bring everyone back together again, to leave the hate behind.
The meeting had been anything but calm, what with brother slapping his hand down on the table and shouting "I object" every time Gippal opened his mouth, Cid smacking him on the back of the head after each time, Leblanc's banter constantly with Noojie-Woojie, Yuna's constant smiling, and Paine's sarcastic comments in regards to everything. Rikku had to chuckle and Tidus' obvious enthusiasm, even if he had missed a few things. But when he spoke, the entire room fell into a hush silence, and a breathe sounded like a budget grenade going off in a room full of glass.
"Rebuild Zanarkand…?" my father had asked. I had looked at Yuna, but she wouldn't take her eyes of Tidus, and I realized that she had known for awhile. The stunned silence had lasted a few moments longer, and then I stood up.
"Well I think it's a great idea. When do we start?" I asked with a smile at Tidus.
He smiled right back at me.
