"Rikku! Gippal! What are you two doing here?" Yuna asked, surprised to see them, but her attention was diverted by her son's caterwauling. "Just a moment, I need to finish changing Bracht's diaper."

"We thought we're long overdue for a vacation and some time with family." Rikku casually answered her cousin when she came back moments later with a red-faced toddler in her arms.

"We're always glad to have you of course, but it's not the best time." Yuna admitted. "New Yevon and the Youth League have chosen Besaid as a neutral location for a meeting of the leaders to finally deal with the silly issues that some of the members refuse to quit fighting over, even now." Yuna explained.

"Baralai and Nooj are here?" Rikku felt a chill but managed to paste a smile on her face as she turned to Gippal. "So I guess you can have a reunion with your buddies while I reunite with my family."

"I wonder why they didn't tell me about this big meeting." Gippal wondered. "It's not like we keep secrets from each other anymore."

Rikku couldn't help but flinch at her boyfriend's choice words, and had to think quickly since both he and Yuna were looking at her. "I'd forgotten the bugs you guys have here. And how much they like trying to snack on me."

Yuna could tell something else was wrong with her usually flighty cousin, but decided to let it be for now, especially since her son needed to be fed before his nap. "Okay, well they're at the temple with Tidus and Wakka right now, so why don't you go visit with them for a while and when you get back, Bracht should be down for his nap." Yuna smiled apologetically for her dismissal of them.


"Hey guys!" Gippal called out as they entered the temple. "Who said you could party without me?"

Baralai, Nooj, Tidus, and Wakka stopped their debate over seating arrangements and turned to the new arrivals. Nooj barely able to maintain his composure as he saw Gippal strolling in with his arm casually around Rikku, while Baralai merely raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd leave Djose for anything short of another apocalypse. Finally getting bored with all your machina toys?" Baralai teased him as everyone started greeting the newly arrived couple.

"Never!" Gippal protested the charge. "But my girl wanted a vacation, so here we are." He noticed that she suddenly seemed very uncomfortable and refused to look anyone in the eye, not at all like her usual outgoing self. "Are you okay, Rik?" he asked, whispering the question.

"Yeah, sure. Just tired from the trip that's all. I'm going to head back to Yuna's and maybe take a nap too. See you later." Rikku kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

"What was that about?" Tidus wanted to know.

"I think she's just tired." Gippal replied. "So, what did I interrupt and who's side am I on?"


Baralai opened the door to his hotel room, expecting it was room service with his dinner, and was shoved inside by Nooj, who slammed the door shut and grabbed Baralai's shirt, lifting him up off the floor. "You bastard! How could you do that to Gippal?" he demanded angrily. "I didn't know they were still together, otherwise I never would have…you never told me! How could you?"

"She's the one who came to me and insisted I teach her, so I am. She's only my slave within those four walls, that's our agreement…what she's done to Gippal, she did it herself! I couldn't order her to leave him even if I wanted to!" Baralai fired back.

Nooj stared hard at his best friend in disgust before letting him go, and he fell to the ground. "You could have left her alone! Either you do now or I'll tell Gippal what you've done." Nooj turned and stormed out of the room.


"Are you feeling better?" Gippal asked Rikku as they sat down to dinner at Tidus and Yuna's house.

"Of course. The nap helped." Rikku lied, smiling at him. "There's the future of blitz ball!" she changed the subject as Tidus brought in Jecht and put him in his highchair while Yuna brought dinner in.

"Is everything ready for the big meeting, dear?" Yuna asked Tidus once everyone had been served.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks for your help today, Gippal." Tidus said.

"No problem. Hard to believe some people still wanna pick fights." Gippal replied. "You'd think everyone would have learned better by now. I guess people got too used to Yevon cracking the whip over them, and they've been gone for so long now that people just feel like going crazy, no matter how times it screws things up."

"Being whipped isn't always a bad thing." Rikku agreed without thinking. She was looking down at her dinner plate so missed the funny looks everyone gave her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yuna asked Rikku again as she put her son to bed.

"You know me, when have I ever not been okay?" Rikku paused before replying.

"Yes, I do know you." Yuna reminded her gently. "So why don't you talk to me?"

"I…it's…" Rikku started to say when Gippal and Tidus came to the doorway of the nursery.

"Ready for some adult entertainment?" Tidus asked them.

"He means watching TV while eating dessert." Yuna told Rikku with an amused smile on her face.

"Sounds good to me." Rikku was grateful for the interruption.

"This vacation was a great idea…did you see how Nooj started to freak when I mentioned parties? He probably thought I meant one of Baralai's parties." Gippal was in a very good mood when he and Rikku got into their bed later that night.

"Baralai's parties?" she asked with feigned innocence, trying to ignore the kernel of dread she felt in the pit of stomach.

"Oh, um…" Gippal tried to find the right words. "They're for people who have really different sexual tastes than you and I do."

"So you've never been to one?" Rikku tried to find an opening to suggest Gippal try being her Master so she wouldn't need Baralai.

"Once, but it wasn't my thing." he admitted. "I'm happy with our sex life. Why, aren't you?"

"Of course." Rikku covered her disappointment. Once maybe Baralai and Nooj left, she could find the courage to tell Yuna and ask her advice on what to do about Baralai's plans for her.


"Not again!" Rikku cried in dismay as she ran to the bathroom the morning the meeting was to start.

"She must have caught some stomach bug." Gippal said, looking worriedly after her. "That's the third morning she's thrown up."

"We'll make sure she visits the healer while you boys are keeping the peace." Lulu assured them, as she and Yuna exchanged a knowing glance over Rikku's condition.

Once the men left, Yuna confronted her cousin. "We promised Gippal we'd take you to the healer to get checked out. He thinks you have a stomach bug, but Lulu and I know better. You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Rikku turned ashen as she considered that. "No, I can't be pregnant…I just can't be!"

Lulu and Yuna were surprised how hysterical Rikku became at the possibility. "Don't you and Gippal want to start a family?" Lulu asked calmly.

"You don't understand!" Rikku sobbingly confessed. "He might not be the father!"