Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of it's characters.
What's a Girl To Do?
Prologue
Rikku sat on the moonlit shore of Besaid, basking in it's silver glow. The moon's light reflected off of the beads of water trickling down her legs as the tide receded then washed back up on shore continuously. She smiled, as she imagined Tidus, his eyes; that crystal blue color, his soft rugged hair; the color of sand, his gentle hands, and his sweet innocent face so full of life; just like hers. They were so much alike and yet she couldn't keep him. She sighed as she looked out at the water; it was so peaceful she thought, so sure of itself, so sure of it's existence. But what could she possibly have to live for? She was being left behind by every one. What could she do? Tears rolled down her face as she began to cry. To everyone else she knew it was always about someone or something else; and the ones that did care were gone. Rikku's mother was dead, she had died when she was just a little girl; how it happened was a blocked memory. Cid was only worried about Zanarkand; how could she possibly compete with that 'theme park'? Brother was so in love with Yuna that he couldn't see past anything; unless it had something to do with her. Buddy was only interested in his mechanics and Shinra in his sciences and inventions. Paine had run off with Gippal; a romance that was pure lust; it was sure to fail. Lulu was busy coping with the divorce between her and Wakka; she had finally admitted to herself and to Wakka that her feelings weren't true. Yuna was obsessed with her touring; the show business gone to her head with the realization Tidus wasn't the same. Tidus? Oh, yes he was back, but he wasn't the same. It seemed that the whole process of him returning had caused him to lose himself, and thus resulting in a what seemed to be permanent madness and instability; he was lost to everyone. But the more she thought about it she smiled serenely; there was someone who cared someone who even though for a long time he had hated her he made Rikku feel loved; Wakka.
Rikku bit her lip as she looked at the broken down machine in front of her. She sighed in aggravation as she reached for her toolbox and got a wrench; she lay back on the creeper (one of those wheelie things that mechanics use to lay back on to work underneath the cars) and slid underneath the machina as she grumbled to herself in aggravation. "I don't know how many times I have to teach these damn islanders to use these things properly...I better get payed for this because this is just plain outrageous...it's the fifteenth time I--" A soft rugged voice interrupted her ramblings. "R-R-Rikku..." it stammered. Rikku's eyes went wide as she quickly rolled out from underneath the giant mechanical object and looked up to see blue eyes staring down at her. "Tidus?" She sat up. "What are you doing here?" She asked him. "I was wondering...if you knew..." He asked trembling. "Knew what?" Her green eyes full of concern. "Why...why I'm so crazy? I mean I don't remember much...I only remember your names. But it seems that as quickly as I contain a memory of any of you...it disappears." He explained. She pulled up a piece of cardboard and set it next to her. "Why don't you sit down." She smiled sweetly. "And while I work on this damn thing I'll talk to you about it." He nodded as he couldn't help but smile back. He sat down and she patted him on the leg as she lay back again and went back to her work. "I never knew much about the other side, you know. I always thought that if you went there; it would be forever. And all these stories of people coming back; always thought they were a myth, but I also thought if they were true just the whole thing would mess them up, you know?" She sighed as she tinkered with the mechanics of the machina. "I don't know why all this is happening to you, and I'm so sorry. But if help is what you want then I'll give it to you. Maybe you can't keep the memories because they belonged to the old you; and the new you needs new memories." She paused as she reached for the screwdriver but couldn't quite reach it. "Tidus-kun? Could you hand that screwdriver to me?" She asked. "This one?" He picked up the one closest to her and handed it to her. "Yeah." Rikku took it. "You need new memories with us. See maybe when you came back it was like you being reborn. Whoever sent you back didn't want you to not remember anything when they sent you back; so they took your memories back little by little. I don't know. But like I said, I will help you. Because you're my friend, you know?" She stopped for a minute as she frowned and a sadness filled her heart. Friend. Why did it seem in this case to be a hurtful word? She blinked and continued to work when she heard him answer. "That answer...it does satisfy why my memories are gone. But...can you answer why when I sometimes remember, I blank out and wake up somewhere else?" Rikku thought for a moment and she shook her head. "I'll have to think on that one. Maybe hang out with you more to see why. That does happen and what actually triggers it." Tidus frowned shaking his head. "That would be great, but since last month I can't bring up any memories and it hasn't happened, but I have a feeling it will." Rikku laughed. "Oh yeah!" There was one last clanking sound and she rolled out from underneath the machine and stood up. She looked at Tidus. "Sorry, I get excited when I fix these things." She pressed a button and it made a beeping sound and the lights on it started glowing. "There we go...it's starting now." She said to no one in particular as she turned it off. She looked up at Tidus who was staring down at her blankly. She frowned. "Where are your emotions?" She asked looking into his crystal blue eyes. "Lets go..." she said after a while. "I've gotta get cleaned up."
"You can just wait there. Now that I have the water heated, I gotta get a shower and then I'll treat you to lunch." She smiled. "That okay, Tidus?" She asked. Tidus nodded. "Yeah, that would be great. I'm starving." Tidus looked around the small hut and saw some pictures on her dresser. She walked over to them to look over them. Everyone was there, even him. It's everyone she cares about, he concluded. Rikku and Yuna in their songstress dresspheres. Rikku trying to get Paine to smile. Rikku and Lulu holding Vidina. Himself giving Rikku a noogie, he smiled at that one; He may not have remembered it, but she looked happy and that made him feel warm inside. And the last picture, Rikku and Wakka; They were on the beach underneath a palm tree, it seemed she had fallen asleep serenely on his chest. Though it was a seemingly innocent picture, Tidus began to get angry at the sight of it, her childlike smile, and his smug blushing face. "Hmph..." He said as suddenly his eyes literally turned red and black marks appeared on his body. His sword appeared and instead of the blue watery look to it, it was black. He turned to the shower room, and heard Rikku singing to herself as she dumped the water over her head every few seconds. He slowly walked towards the room and opened the door, revealing Rikku and all of her nakedness presented to him. She stopped and looked at him; she felt no shame but she was quite surprised. Her face turned red. "Tidus...you really shouldn't be in here. Now, go back out and wait like I asked you to." She looked at his eyes. "Tidus..." she said softly, and then she saw the sword. "Tidus...calm down..." He walked closer to her, his sword still at his side. "Tidus..." she slowly got her towel and wrapped it around her body; feeling no fear she stepped out of the washtub and looked up at him. "Tidus..." She put her hand on his which held the sword and did the only thing she could think of, she kissed him on the lips, hoping it would be enough to make this go away, and it did, as his eyes turned blue again he closed them, dropping his sword. Wakka stood there at the front door, everything in plain view, but like all these situations, it's not always as they appear. Several seconds passed and Wakka dropped the flowers he was holding and left.