Alright. Well, I got three reviews so far for it. And that was all I needed. I suppose you kiddies are awaiting the second part. You know, I actually was squealing while writing this. I had to like picture the things in my head and debate whether or not I should put them in. And, I kinda have to act those things out, by myself, to get the feel of the character. I'm just a weird writer like that, ne?

Maybe as I get further into the story, I'll put a Gippal's point of view. What do you think? Lolz. I sound like a teacher. :D

FinalxKingdom: Why thank you. Hah; you were my first reviewer! –gives you a cupcake- Thanks. I don't really like the after the game Gippal-Rikku stories so much. True, they're my favorite pairing, but I wanted to write something different. A lot of stories here are based on what happens after the defeat of Vegnagun. I just wanted to be unique. :)

YouHitMyHeart101: Awwies, thanks. If I could, I would hug/glomp/tackle you right now. Haha. And yes! I will continue now! :D

Disclaimer; I still do not own the characters T.T

(By the way; the hovers are like the hovers in X-2. If you go to Mi'ihen [from where you enter from Luca] and ask one of the people for a ride on their hover, it's like that one. 'Kay? I know there are other places which offer hovers, but that's the only place that came into mind. Haha.

ALSO. I'M TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. I'll try not to do this. School's a drag. Seriously. It's kinda short, but the next one will be a little longer, I promise! :] Also, if you guys have some ideas, feel free to tell me! I mean, I have the story all planned out, but some improvising would be greatly appreciated! )

-editeditedit-

Oh goodie! Two mo reviews! x] Right.

Sakura_Lisle: Oh thank you! I might actually put that in somewhere in the story.

Heixirai: Lol. You don't have to wait any longer! Gah. Here it is... finally.

--

. C H A P T E R . T W O .

--

Gippal led me to his hover. It wasn't like a carriage, I'll tell you that. I've never been in a hover before. I'd only tinkered with little machina at the factory. Like some air conditioners and CommSpheres. Did you know a little kid named Shinra made them? I've heard he's really smart. I've never met him, but my dad works with him to make more CommSpheres around Spira. I bet you he'll be as rich as us one day.

Anyways, I got on the hover. It was kind of hard to stay on it, since there were no seats other than the person who's driving it. But Gippal had modified the hover to place in coordinates. This way, he could just relax and the hover would find its way to the place.

Kind of cool, huh?

I grinned and let the breeze blow against me. My hair flew as I did so. So did my dress. But since it was really long, it didn't fly everywhere. Thank Yevon for that.

I watched as Gippal moved towards the seat and placed in the coordinates for my place—the castle. The hover started up quickly and began to go towards our destination. I hung onto one of the wings of the machina and grinned. Now this I could get used to.

Gippal looked over to me and laughed a bit. "Enjoying yourself?" He asked.

I only nodded in response. I was sure as hell enjoying myself. Today was one of the best days I've ever had. The air felt cool around me. It was probably getting more and more darker as the seconds went by, I think. It sure seemed that way.

But in a matter of minutes, the hover came to a halt. We had finally arrived. This wasn't good news to me. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. Forever. I didn't want to go back to that place I call home. Compared to Djose, it was nothing. In my opinion anyways. I'm sure people would absolutely beg to differ.

"Alright Cid's Girl, we're here." Gippal announced. I laughed and jumped off of the hover, only to lose my balance as I hit the ground. I stumbled over my own two feet and tripped.

"Owwie!" I squeaked.

Gippal quickly rushed over and helped me up. His hand took mine and he pulled me up from the ground. And dear Spira, it was the best few seconds yet. My hands weren't small, nor were they big. His were strong and big. And having his hand around mine just felt so nice. Not to mention, when I got up, I kind of collided with his chest. My cheek came into contact with it. It was sturdy. He was pretty strong, then. Oh, I just wondered what he'd look like without his shirt off…

Wait, no! Bad Rikku! Stop thinking like that. Sheesh. Sometimes, even I didn't understand myself.

"Aha, thanks." I managed to say after a while.

He laughed and let go of my hand (darn!) and started to walk away towards the castle. When he saw it in all it's entirety he inhaled sharply. It was like a gasp… I think. Shaking his head he turned to me. Gippal smiled. "You actually live here?" He asked me.

I nodded and grinned. "Yeah." I joined him and looked at it. It wasn't that big. Was it?

Gippal smiled and patted my had. "Right so, guess I'll see you 'round then?" He asked. Then he quickly bit his lip. "If you're ever in Djose, that is." He added quickly. Was he nervous? Oh! Even then he looked gorgeous!

"Yeah, sure." I answered smiling happily. I placed my hands behind me, locking them with my fingers. I rocked back and forth on my heels, and looked up at him. I've only seen him when it's dark. Maybe I'll find him again when it's daytime. I wonder what his face looks like then…

Gippal seemed happy with that. He grinned and gave me a wave and began to walk towards his hover. I waved back and grinned. "Kuuthekrd, Gippal!" I wasn't so sure if he was Al Bhed or not. Maybe he was, but he didn't speak it. Either way, I took a shot.

He turned around and smirked. "'Hekrd, Cid's Girl."

So he did know how to speak Al Bhed.

I saw him get in and leave. The hover rode off back to Djose. Which left me to deal with Cid.

But I didn't even make one step into our castle. Cid came marching out with a few of the guards and pointed at me. "Rikku!" He said angrily.

I bit my lip and sighed. "Yes?" I managed to squeak.

His anger seemed to only flare up at that. "What in Spira have you been doing? It's almost midnight!" He roared. Cid was now only a few inches away from me. I could tell he was really mad.

I slapped my forehead and pouted. "I didn't think—" I began, but he cut me off.

"Of course you didn't THINK!" Cid exclaimed.

"—that you'd care if I went exploring!" I finished.

"What do you mean I wouldn't care?" He asked. "OF COURSE I WOULD. SOMETHING COULD'VE HAPPENED TO YOU!" Cid yelled. "You don't know anything, for crying out loud! You could've gotten lost!"

Now I was angry. Sure, he could be mad I came home late. Sure, he could be mad because he didn't know where I was going. But really. Saying I didn't know anything? True, I did get lost; but I found my way back, didn't I? I almost snarled at this. Now, it was my turn to be angry.

I leaned forward, my scowl matching his. "Alright, listen here, Pops. I was FINE. I DIDN'T GET HURT. No one ATTACKED ME. I was FINE." I yelled back. "I got back here with MY FRIEND. OKAY?" I continued. "Now if you're DONE, then I'm going to go to sleep. Goodnight, Vydran." I finished. With that, I stormed away from him.

Cid was astonished at this. Oh, I could tell. His jaw dropped as soon as I stopped talking. The guards around him were kind of shocked too. One of them was trying not to laugh.

I felt happy with myself. I was proud I didn't let myself get yelled at by him. I entered inside the castle and walked up to my room. The people inside looked relieved to see me. Raine was in my room, waiting. When she found me, she smiled.

"Oh Lady Rikku, I'm happy you've returned!" She exclaimed. I could tell she was. Raine was suffocating me with a hug. I hugged her back and grinned. "You know I wouldn't leave!" I replied, "Now, I'm going to go to sleep, 'kay?" I said. Raine quickly nodded and said "Goodbye" and left.

As soon as I closed my eyes and laid on the bed, I fell asleep.

--

Darkness. There was just darkness all around me. I couldn't see anything. I was scared. How could this happen? I didn't wander far into an unknown place!

Where in Spira was I? I looked around. The walls, if they were walls, where black. Just pitch black. Just like the ceiling. It felt weird. An eerie chill blew past me and I shivered. This was majorly weird. If only I had someone here to help me. Someone to save me.

I bit my lip. I was in the same spot for a while. And now the ground, as I saw it, was dark. Black. It was just as dark was everything around me. What would happen if I took a step forward?

I moved my foot to the spot in front of me. The tip of my toe touched it. "Thank Yevon." I sighed happily. It was solid. I could step on it. So, I walked to it. But when both of my feet stepped on it, I fell. The ground shattered and I just fell through.

I screamed.

But nothing came out from my mouth.

I tried to grab on to something.

But I couldn't see.

Was this the end of me?

"You're such a klutz, Cid's Girl."

--

My eyes burst open. Raine was sitting beside me, shaking me violently. Was she screaming too? For a second, I couldn't hear anything. But the noise quickly came into my ears. I heard screaming. But it was my voice.

I clamped my mouth shut and shot up, sitting upright on my bed. The screaming stopped, but, I was shaking. I looked at my hands. They were still shaking with fear. I looked over at Raine. She looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay, Lady Rikku? I heard you screaming, and I tried to wake you up. But you never awoke 'till now." She said quickly. Crap. She was worried about me. It was one thing when someone else was worried about me, but when Raine was, I felt terrible. She was like my mother. I've shared so many secrets with her, and to have her so concerned about me felt so… well, I don't even know!

I nodded and put on a small smile. "Yeah… it's just a dream." I said. I waved for her to go and she nodded. Raine left and closed the door behind her.

I closed my eyes. That was Gippal's voice. It wasn't really a mystery why I'd have a dream about him. I mean, I was falling head-over-heels for him, right? But he wasn't rich or anything. I mean, I didn't care about that; but Cid probably did. He wanted someone right for me. Which is probably why he chose all these stuck-up pretty-boys from other places. All of them were rich people, like us. He didn't choose anyone who wasn't rich. They all had tons of Gil.

I looked around my room. "At least I can see it." I murmured. I stretched my arms and climbed out of bed. I stretched and yawned slightly. After yesterday, I wouldn't mind going out again. Even if it meant having Cid yell at me later. As long as I would have the slightest chance of seeing Gippal again, then it was worth it.

--

I skipped breakfast and snuck out of the house, changing into my clothes before I left of course. There was only one thing I had on my mind. Just one simple thing.

"Gippal,"

He was intoxicating me. And it was weird. Absolutely weird! I just met him. Almost twenty-four hours ago I met him, and I was going head-over-heels for that man. It was (hopefully - though, I doubted it) a "crush" and nothing more. But could I really deny it? He was just so... handsome! So handsome I couldn't even describe it! I'm sure he's broken so many hearts before, with just one simply glance at a girl... but the truth of the matter was: he had mine, and he didn't even know it.

I knew Vydran would get mad at me for running off again. However, I didn't care. I needed to be with him. Today, tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the—

Well, you ge tthe point.

In a new lavender dress, I scurried off, far away from my haven: my castle, and went back in the same route I took in the hopes of finding the man who's stolen my heart: Gippal.

Al Bhed Translations;
Vydran - Father
Kuuthekrd - Goodnight
'Hekrd - 'Night

Not as long as I hoped it would be... but here it is! Finally, hm? It's been a while. I do apologize. You have every right to throw machina at me. :/

... Well. Not really.

Hah.

Anyways, if there are some spelling mistakes, I'm sorry. This was made over a period of time, so yeah. I skimmed over it for some Al Bhed errors and things out of place. Please read and review~; thoughts and comments are always appreciated.

IMPORTANT! VOTE:

Should I put in a Gippal's Point of View later on in the story?
I thought it might spice it up just a bit. I do have it in mind for this one specific part, however, I would like everyone's opinion.

Or shouldn't I?
Maybe you guys would rather NOT listen to Gippal's point of view...which means you're crazy :B Ahah. Just kidding. Everyone has different opinions; I just want to listen to them all to debate on this.

Thank you for those who fav'ed this and reviewed. I do appreciate this. ^^