Third chappie up... if anyone's reading that is! Thought i might as well finish regardless.

Disclaimer: It is much to my dismay that i do not own any of the characters (large etc) in this story, I'm merely messing around with them a little.

3. You what?!

"Rikku, do you ever feel that maybe, y'know people like you, when they shouldn't?" Gippal didn't mean to ask and especially not in such a stupid way. But her quizzical look informed him she didn't understand what he was talking about anyway. Trying to now take back what he said, he uttered "Never mind."
"No. Go on! I'm curious now!" she smiled at him as she left what she was doing by the wardrobe and sat opposite Gippal on the bed, waiting for him to carry on.

Sighing he realised he'd done it now, why didn't he ever learn to just shut up? "I was just wondering, in case you ever felt like someone had feelings for you, feelings they shouldn't do because they are meant to be your friend – just your friend. I wanted to let you know you can tell me about it if you wanted to!"

"Who likes me as more than a friend?" she asked innocently, and then her face lit up with excitement. Too much excitement when she had a boyfriend if you asked Gippal. "Can I guess? Has someone said something?"

"No" Gippal shook his head as he knew what a challenge this would be to resolve.

"Is it..." she pondered over her friends and the thought of which one may possibly like her, "Buddy?" Gippal shook his head again, hoping it would be more noticed than his first attempt. "Oh. Well er... what about, hmmm… Baralai? I mean yeah he's a praetor and all but he's cute! Is it him, does he like me!?!"

Gippal coughed, "Excuse me? Boyfriend is sitting right here!" he pointed to himself.

"Oh yeah, sorry! Well don't worry I wouldn't go for him anyway."

"That's reassuring." Gippal felt a sarcastic moment coming on.

"Who else is there? Who's single? Who may like me?" Rikku was so preoccupied in her thoughts she basically ignored Gippal asking why she even cared?

"Could it be… Oh What about Tidus?"

"He's not single! He's going out with your cousin! Why on earth would you think of him? What's wrong with you girl, I swear it's not normal to pester your boyfriend about who else may or may not like you!" Gippal tutted loudly as he rolled his eyes at Rikku.

"I was only wondering! And you bought it up!" she whined. After a moment of them both sitting in silence, she asked, "Are you sure Tidus doesn't like me?"

"Rikku, I'm sure! He likes Yuna, well as far as I can tell."

"Yeah, I know." Rikku sighed as she got up again, leaving the man with an eye patch to wonder how sane this relationship was.

___*___

Tidus

"You what?!" she practically screeched. "Why? When? How come? All the details right now Mr!" in fact she now sounded almost excited, what was wrong with her?

"It just happened; it was the right time to end it." I told her truthfully.

She pouted, "But you were so cute together?"

"Yeah. I know" I sighed deeply into the empty glass I was holding out in front of me, as I peered into it at the few drops of liquid left over.

"Aww! That's so sad! Are you ok?" Rikku asked seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Well kinda… I feel kinda shit but that's a different matter."

"Really? Why?"

"I can't say Rik'." I traced the rim of my glass as I stared at the table we were both sat at. Rikku and I had bumped into each other in town and were now seated at a quiet café not far from the docks, for lunch.

"You can't tell me?" she looked sad, "But I'm you're friend! You should be able to tell me Ti'"

"I did something bad and I don't want to talk about it, alright? Leave it please."

"Can't have been THAT bad!" she provoked gently.

"Sleeping with someone 2 days after breaking up with you girlfriend isn't

bad?" I confessed, but that was all I was going to let her know. I really shouldn't have said anything, I could sense this was not going to end well but it slipped out.

"Well…it's…erm…not brilliant…"she stared at the table and looked sad. Great, now she'd run and tell Yuna! Couldn't wait! "Who was she?" she asked this as if she was my ex… not my friend. I didn't understand her sometimes but I was grateful for the practice. Now I was ready for the horrific guilt I would feel if I ever really cheated on someone – happy days!

"No one Rik'."

"How could it have been NO ONE if you slept with them? For crying out loud!" she sat back in her chair, folded her arms and glared at me. What had I done wrong to her? Geez, someone was sensitive.

"She was just… this girl. I don't know what I was thinking. I was on the rebound." And that was just one of the great excuses she'd taught me after we'd got dressed and were ready to leave one another. Great now I was taking advice from a girl who enjoyed sleeping around – what was I turning into? "It didn't mean anything." Why was I explaining myself here?

"Oh." She sat solemnly. For about a minute anyway, I guess it was something like a lifetime to Rikku. "But why would you not go for someone you liked?"

"I did like her Rikku, just not in THAT way. Y'know, she was great for that night but I wouldn't want more right now. I only just broke up with Yuna about a week ago; geez let me have some time."

"Oh yeah." She looked down at the table, "I forgot. I just can't believe you would do that though."

"Why?" I asked

"I dunno…"she just shrugged.

"Rikku, what's up?" I nudged her arm gently

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… why wouldn't I be?" she queried.

"You don't seem your usual bubbly self." I explained

"I just… well… something's been playing on my mind but I don't know who to turn to for advice."

"What about me?" I suggested

Rikku didn't say anything but continued to look at the table between us instead, she sighed deeply a few times and then announced, "I'm not sure if I'm compatible with Gippal anymore."

"YOU what?" I stared at her stunned, "Seriously? But you're Rikku and Gippal! The magnificent Al Bhed Duo who conquered Spira and gave Al Bhed's their new image. Aren't you?"

"Well, yeah. It's just that… I don't know." She sighed again and I didn't think it was possible to get sighs so heavy after her previous ones. I could tell this had been on her mind for a while. I watched her as she began to trace the swirls and patterns on the table in front of us, then she looked up at me again, "I just feel like, well, he's just so big!" her exclamation took me back and I stared at her inquisitively. "No not like that you pervert! He's just such a big figurehead! You know?"

"Aren't you both big figureheads? After all you did save Spira… twice!"

"Yes, but with him- I'm even bigger! And sometimes you don't want to get bigger! You want to just be you! I don't feel like he appreciates me anymore! I know it sounds silly but I always feel like we're together just for the sake of our image. There's no real chemistry now; I'm not even sure if there really ever was."

"Wow, it sure never seems that way. How long have you felt like this?"

Rikku looked nervous, "A while…"

"A while? Well let's just hope it's not a long while eh?"

"Almost 2 years! Since we've been together!" Rikku blurted out. "It's felt like this from the start, I mean sure we've had our fun times and I love him to bits, but more like a brother. A brother, Tidus, Oh my Yevon I love him like a brother that's so wrong. And I'm pretty sure he feels it too. He's never there; even when he's right by me, his mind is somewhere else. And I guess to be fair, so is mine. How can you go on being with someone who you're not into? I'm pretty sure he likes someone else, and if he did I'd love it."

"Why?" I managed to ask her quickly as she carried on.

"It's because, well… I don't want to be the one to finish it. Because I like being with someone and not being with him means I'm not with anyone."

"There are loads of other people who you can be with Rikku." I explained

"But I don't want just anyone, I want someone in particular, and I can't have that someone because they're tak- They just don't feel the same way." She looked sad, almost close to tears. I put my hand over hers and stroked her arm gently. "I don't know why I can't just be happy with what I have? But I don't want Gippal, Tidus! I want someone else and that's another reason this can't work with us. I should break it off! I'm going to do it soon. I'll have to, I can't live a lie, because it's not fair to either of us. But how? What am I going to do?!"

"Well can't you tell this other person?" I asked, hoping I would make it easier for her.
"Not really. I mean I couldn't, there was a time I may have been able to tell them, but I'm pretty sure I've missed it now. It would be awkward"

"It's never too late."

"But what if it ruins all I thought I had? I don't want to mess my life up Ti', my life is good!"

"Depends if they're worth the risk?" I looked straight at her, "I say live for the moment, and they aren't gonna be offended that a gorgeous girl like you wants them are they? Just trust me."

Nodding slowly, she took a deep breath, "You're right, I should just go for it.

But how do you know when the time's right to say?" I looked away and had to say, I had no idea, it wasn't something you could theorise, it just was! I shrugged gently before looking back up at her but this time noticed there was a different glint in her eyes. "I just want to clear all this up, I don't care who knows the truth. Tidus, I really like you!"

What she said, well 'took me by surprise' was a serious understatement! Why? How? I couldn't figure it out. I don't know why I'd never noticed it more; I stared at her blankly for what felt like forever as I repeated her sentence in my head. She liked me, she really liked me. I gawped like a fish for a moment before stuttering. I wanted to tell her what was going through my mind, but I didn't even know. I guess yeah I liked her too, but I never really thought of it as anything, I'd liked her all that time ago as guardians, and when we first met in those ruins. But now I couldn't think, did I like her, was I willing to give her a go? Did I even deserve too? Why had I not seen this coming!?! I wanted to tell her thank you, yet as I opened my mouth to explain to her all my thoughts, I was shocked to hear what actually came out of my lips. "I slept with Paine!"

X Thank you for taking the time to read. X