Xirysa Says: Alright two fics in one day! Once again, inspiration hit as I was doing my homework. Why does this always happen when I'm supposed to be productive? Bah. I guess I was productive in a sense of the word… Either way, this was rather short...

So to all those Rippal fans (which I happen to be, among many others) out there… This is dedicated to you. Enjoy, and please R&R.

-x-x-x-

Why Purple?

Alright, so I know that we Al Bhed have an eccentric style of hair and dress. I mean, look at that mop Brother calls hair! Okay, so my hair's kind of odd too. But for an Al Bhed, it actually looks normal! And my clothes… Well, mine aren't as weird or revealing as some peoples' are. Like Donna. Or Leblanc. Anyway, that's what dress spheres and garment grids are for.

But his clothes… They made me wonder the first time I saw him wearing them. They still do, actually. They were pretty cool looking, design wise and all, but the color kind of threw me off. Not that it was a bad color or anything. Actually, it was really pretty. But on a man… On him… It was just… Just totally disasterrific. I've known him nearly my entire life, but I just don't have the heart to tell him the things that people (mostly Brother and Buddy) say about his masculinity behind his back.

I remember the day he first wore those clothes like it was yesterday. Let's see… It was probably a day or so before he left for the Crimson Squad. I was sitting by the oasis, thinking. Yes, I can think, thank you very much. Anyway, I had just heard about Yunie and how she had started her pilgrimage... It made me sad to know that my cousin, who I had never met, would fighting a battle to the death to save Spira. I was alone - Brother and Buddy were working on some machina that stopped magic from being used. Or something. I heard the sound of boots crunching sand behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw him standing there.

"Hey... Cid's girl..." He walked over and sat down next to me. Wrapping his arm comfortingly around my shoulders, he quietly asked "...Are you alright?" The cockiness and confidence that usually came with him was gone. Instead, it was concern I felt. I must have been crying, because I could suddenly taste the tears on my lips.

I rubbed the back of my arm across my eyes. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine..." I hiccuped and he smiled. I glared at him and he began to chuckle. I muttered under my breath. "Meanie..." That just made him laugh harder. I was finally fed up. I smacked him upside the head on his blind side. He toppled over, and that's when I saw what he was wearing. I was about to ask him about his color choice when he gave me a light punch in the shoulder. I jumped up and kicked him in the shin, only to feel his arms wrap around my stomach. Soon, we were engaged in a full out tickle war. We had always been close, and this was just another one of our games.

The war lasted nearly ten minutes. By the time we were done, we were both lying on the sand, out of breath from laughing. Somehow, I had gotten sprawled across his chest, my head resting on his heart. We stayed like that for Fayth knows how long. After a while, he turned his head and, almost as if he was afraid, brushed his lips against mine.

Oh. Wow. I crawled off and stood a little ways away from him. He stood up and brushed the sand off of his pants. He walked towards me again, smiling. I looked up into his eye. There were barely a few inches of space between us. I could here a little voice in the back of my mind yelling at me. C'mon Rikku! Tell him already...

"Gippal," I said in the most confident tone I could manage, "why purple?" Before I knew what he was doing, he bent down and stole another kiss from me.

"Because, Rikku," he said with that cocky grin I'd grown to love, "I know you like it." He pecked my cheek and ran off back to Home. I didn't see him again for two years. But while we were separated, I finally figured somethings out, while remembering somethings at the same time.

One was that he hated the color purple. Another was that I loved it.

And that he called me Rikku.

END

-x-x-x-

Xirysa Says: Wow... I'm happy. Two fics in one day... :D Yay. So... I was on Youtube watching some scenes from FFX-2. R&R, and you'll get my undying gratitude. And an invisible cookie.