A/N: Another chapter! I've been inspired! Haha, I'm playing FFX again, and for some reason that inspires me. I'll be playing X-2 again soon, and then I'll be doubly inspired, because there's Gippal! Hurray! Thanks for the reviews, folks!

Disclaimer: Nothing is miiiiiiiine in this chapter NOR the following.

Lady Sonora the Black-Rose: GASP. I know! Heehee.

Jezzi: I know…It broke my heart to do that to Gippy. Haha.

AmayaSaria: Aww, thanks! That makes me so happy.

Natalie: Ah! Once again, your long and beautiful reviews make me warm and fuzzy down to my toes! Eee! Thanks soo much! And I'm glad Gippal's poor, lost boy line caught you. It made me want to cry. Yes, I'm too attached for my own good.

Ikana Sesako: Ee! A voodoo doll! Oh no! Here's an update. Now please don't voodoo me! Heehee.

PS: If you review, I'll answer! New policy.

Note: Bold means translation into English from Al Bhed. Italics means thoughts.

It Started in the Sand

Chapter 7

"Hey, Tsori! Break ended twenty minutes ago!" The young man tapped his watch for emphasis, standing under the shade of the temple. Not that he needed it. It was always stormy there.

The said Al Bhed nodded hurriedly, flinging his hand of cards down to the other men as if they were on fire.

"Yr! Muug, ra ryt y Gehk!" (Ah! Look, he had a King!)

"Rao, Tsori! Oui meat!" (Hey, Tsori! You lied!)

"Ra syta sa Ku Vecr vun hudrehk!" (He made me go fish for nothing!)

Tsori hustled by the leader, muttering a quick "Cunno," before slipping through the temple doors.

Gippal couldn't resist a small chuckle.

Teasing his workers was a favorite pastime of his. They were always so afraid he was going to attack them and destroy them or something if he ever caught them disobeying. Of course, he would often just tease them, unless it was something drastic like taking the machines out of the temple.

He surveyed te numbers Al Bhed outside the Djose Temple, feeling giddy. He couldn't help but be excited everytime he looked outside of the temple. He had started this. He had workers. He was making a difference in Spira. Not to mention he was pretty famous. Especially after that whole Vegnagun incident…

"No," he muttered, rubbing at his eye wearily. "Don't go thinking about that." It only reminds you of her.


"Well, well, if isn't Cid's Girl." That's right, said a voice in his mind, act calm. Act like she didn't abandon you in Luca two years ago. Act like she didn't leave you to run off and save the world. Act like you two are still close. Act like her escape didn't send you into such frustration you joined an army. The Crimson Squad. Just act. You can be an actor. You're good at it.

He noticed Rikku was doing the exact same thing. "Hey, I have a name!" she cried, punching his arm lightly. Just like they used to do. But of course, he saw the glimmer of uneasiness in her eyes. Aha! So she hadn't forgot! Good. He hoped she would be sad forever for what she did.

"So how's Brother?" Gippal asked, which he knew was code for, "What happened to my friend I left on Moonflow?"

"Oh, he's the same as usual." A pause. "Buddy's around too." Which Gippal read as, "Yea, you abandoned Buddy too, but he and Brother stuck together. Unlike you."

He felt like bursting out right there and then. He had seen her earlier on, when he had been walking up to the temple. He couldn't be sure if it was her, though. The last time he had seen her was two ago on the Spiran News, standing behind Yuna as she gave a speech. But she had that same stance, that same face…

He had chosen to walk past and into the temple. He knew what they had been there for. Interviews. Oh great. Just what he wanted. An interview with the girl he didn't want to see at the moment. His ex-best friend. But they had come in anyway, and Gippal was forced to act like nothing was wrong. Everything was okay, he told himself. She's not actually there…

After all, she promised she'd come back to see me, right? This was DEFINITELY not the way he had planned it. Not like this.

And from the expression on her face the whole time, that wasn't what she had wanted either.

Even later on, when they had met yet again at the temple, he acted like it was all peachy. He had even thrown in a comment about them making quite a couple. Rikku had, of course, begun to pound him to a pulp. Gippal didn't regret it though. Let her think he was okay. Let her think he saw their whole friendship as an entire joke. Let her see that Gippal, mining slave, could handle life without Rikku there to babysit him.

Let her see…


"Gippal! Fa'na ryjehk dnuipma cdyndehk drec sylreha!" (We're having trouble starting this machine!)

Gippal sighed, running a gloved hand through his gelled hair. "Well, I'm not the only one who's famous now," he mumbled, remembering only days ago he had seen the three ladies off at Luca Port. "No…she is now too." He stepped into Djose Temple, slamming the door behind him.


Rikku gave a groan as the boat touched land. "Ooooh…my stoomaach…"

"We're here, Princess Rikku!" called the driver of the S.S. Winna. Rikku blushed. Ever since the three girls had helped to defeat Vegnagun, people had begun to call Rikku by her proper title. Oh, so Al Bhed were noticed now, hey? Well, at least she had helped her tribe return to their former glory.

He's helped too, you know…

"Thanks!" she said hurriedly, rushing down the plank and onto dock 5 of Luca. She felt as if she were about to vomit. She ran behind a stack of boxes, breathing heavily and shakily. "Note to self," she muttered. "Never ride boats again. I've never liked them." Not since that whirlpool, her mind told her. Shaking her head, Rikku tottered back out onto the main dock, feeling her stomach settle back into its normal spot. She touched the top of her hair gently, making sure every bead was still in place. Maybe…maybe he had come back here. For old times sakes. So Rikku could really come back to see him.

She walked slowly through Luca, adjusting to the noise and allowing her mind to think back to that fateful day…


"Oh no! Yunie! We don't have to go to Djose Temple, do we?" Rikku tugged at her cousin's arm like a little child would their mother when they were afraid of something.

"Why not, Rikku?" Yuna asked, chuckling. "We need to go digging sometime!"

"Oooh…Do we have to? How about we don't? Yea! Sounds good to me!" Rikku stepped away from her cousin. "Or better yet, you and Paine go! I'll be fine!"

"But…Rikku…weren't you just saying a few days ago you were proud of what the Al Bhed were doing? And that you'd love to see their progress?"

I was proud of what Gippal was doing, she thought, and then cringed. "NO!" she shouted, stamping her feet. "Don't think about him!"

"About who?" Yuna asked, intrigued. "Who? Who?"

Rikku was saved the embarrassment of answering when Brother called out they had landed at Djose. Rikku bit her bottom lip. How could she face him? How could she face her best friend after what she had done to him in Luca two years ago? Yes, she knew she needed to save Yuna, but…but was that any reason to have brushed off her best friend? After all…Her mind whirled back to that day, when Gippal had shouted to her in Al Bhed. Now THAT had surprised her. If only she hadn't stopped. The pain in his voice had been too much to bear…No one needed to know that after being beaten to a pulp and thrown onto the banks of the Moonflow and being entrusted as Yuna's guardian, when she was alone, she cried. No one needed to know the pain she felt deep inside of her for leaving her friend. And when she found out from an Al Bhed friend that Gippal had gone to join an army called the Crimson Squad later on…she was so afraid. So afraid he would die, and it would have been all her fault.

And then she defeated Sin. Still nothing. No calls, no trying to contact her. She had been hoping he would…but she had no clue where he was. For two years, she was oblivious to where Gippal had disappeared. She tried with all of her strength to locate him, but the Al Bhed were oddly secretive. And then she had learned about the Machine Faction, and she was a little bit relieved. He was safe. For a while.

"Rikku! Come on!" Yuna tugged at one of Rikku's braids, snapping her back into reality.

"Yunie!" she moaned, following Paine down the ramp out of the airship. "Don't wreck my hair, okay?"

Yuna laughed. "Okay."

They were here. Rikku felt her legs turn to jelly. Her head was spinning. She didn't know what would happen. Awkward silence? Tears? Anger? Actual physical abuse? Hurtful words that were even worse? Rikku bit her lip, dancing nervously on her feet. Her friends waited patiently in line, but Rikku almost screamed. She wanted to get this over with. NOW.

And then he came. He just…strode past. She swore she saw him look at her, but seconds later he snapped his gaze back to the temple. He didn't want to look at her, she reasoned. He was so disgusted with her; he didn't even want to acknowledge her presence. Rikku continued to act like nothing was wrong. She even informed Yuna who he was with a cheerful attitude. She was a bit annoyed, because Yuna seemed to be inspecting him when he had walked past…or something. But inside, she felt like she would burst into tears that could never be wiped away. He looked so different, but she knew that he was still the same guy. The same guy who had been her best friend. And even later, when they were interviewed, she realized how much the same he was. But the casual way he talked to her and hurt her more than words could express. Didn't he want to say anything of what had happened between them? He was so…SO disgusted. She was almost afraid to be in his presence. He gave off such a vibe that made her want to crumble to the ground. She hadn't had such an emotionally exhausting day since after defeating Sin. This…THIS was something terrible.

Something she had to fix.


Rikku scuttled through Luca, avoiding crowds when she could. She scrambled up the steps that led to the Highroad, feeling a cold wind rush past at her. She looked down at the top of the city frowning slightly. Brother had decided to go back to Bikanel, taking his airship with him. Rikku scowled. "Stupid Brother," she muttered. "Now I have to walk!"

You could have stayed in Luca, advised a voice as Rikku started to run down the Highroad, avoiding the large crowds that seemed to gather there now. At the end, when you all went to Besaid and Tidus was there…you could have stayed in Luca with him.

No way, interrupted another voice. Rikku dodged a little boy who was playing with a blitzball. "Sorry, sorry!" she said, helping the little boy up. He had fallen back in surprise. A lady came rushing over from some ruins she had seemed to be taking a sphere of. "I'm so sorry," Rikku said to her. The lady only glared.

"Well hey, maybe you should look after your own kid! Geez!" Rikku spun around and stomped down the Highroad, now thoroughly irritated at the lady. No way. That would have been too embarrassing, staying there, continued the voice. Rikku sighed heavily. She just wanted to hurry up and rent her chocobo. She would ride it to Djose and then…then, she could explain what she had been doing. She could explain what had happened so many years ago.

What she didn't notice, though, was something gliding in the grass behind her…following her.


Five Hours Later…

Gippal was busy talking to two Al Bhed women, who seemed bent on making Gippal aggravated.

"Fa haat suna cibbmeac! Fa'na nihhehk muf!" (We need more supplies! We're running low!)

"Lyh'd oui ku du Bikanel yht kad cusa? Ech'd dryd ouin ZUP?" (Can't you go to Bikanel and get some? Isn't that your JOB?)

"Famm, oac, pid E's y ped pico, myteac..." (Well, yes, but I'm a bit busy, ladies…) Gippal tried to speak, but the first girl interrupted him.

"Cu dra nacd uv dra Machine Faction ec cibbucat du tnufh frema oui'na cu PICO?" (So the rest of the Machine Faction is supposed to drown while you're so BUSY?)

"E's pico palyica uv dra Machine Faction! Ev oui't zicd mecdah--" (I'm busy because of the Machine Faction. If you'd just listen—)

"WHOA! WHOA! AYCO! AYCO!" (EASY, EASY!)

Gippal stopped short at the screaming that was coming from outside the temple. He paused, ears perked for more noise. It seemed that there was someone having some trouble. There was the squawking of some type of bird, and murmurs throughout a crowd that seemed to be outside. Gippal raced to the door to see what was happening. Trouble at his Machine Faction? No way.

What he saw definitely put that thought out of his mind, though.

It was gray and stormy outside…as usual. There was an exceptionally long line at the booth today. Al Bhed workers were all standing in groups, staring at the sight that was headed towards the temple, laughing. Machina and card games lay forgotten. The people in the line twittered and whispered. Gippal couldn't say anything at all.

Rikku was on a crazed chocobo. Yes, Rikku. He was so shocked he thought he could fall to the floor. What was Rikku doing here? Without her little gang? Was she here to see him?

One again, his thoughts were driven out by the antics of Rikku.

"CRAZY CHOCOBO! CRAZY CHOCOBO! SORRY PEOPLE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO MOVE!"

Rikku jerked at the reins of her chocobo, muttering Al Bhed curses under her breath. Right in front of the temple, something had rustled in the plants near it, sending her chocobo into berserk mode for no apparent reason. Rikku struggled to keep the thing on a straight path, but it had a resolve to run wild around the temple, knocking people back and screeching in a loud, ear-splitting way. And Rikku had no idea what to do.

"SORRY!" she yelled back at someone who had tripped because of the chocobo. "I'll make it up to you later! I promise! CHOCOBO! STOP!" She pulled hard on the reins, which only made the bird angrier. It gave a squawk of indignation and began to race around even more madly. She felt her face heat up at the laughter and whispers she could hear. Oh, Rikku can save the world twice, but she can't handle a stupid chocobo? Where's Clasko when you need him? Rikku asked mentally.

"CHOCOBO!" she yelled helplessly. "I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" It paid no attention. Instead it began to tromp towards the line of people. Immediately several shrieked and began to disperse, running as fast as their legs would carry them. Rikku gave up, and decided to cling onto the reins for dear life. This chocobo definitely had something wrong with it, and Rikku was very much in danger of being killed. As if to prove her thoughts, the chocobo jumped several times, stomping the ground angrily so much each time that Rikku was forced to slide off of her seat at each jump. "CHOCOBOOOO!" she screamed, clinging onto the reins. They did no good, as Rikku was thrown into the air time after time. The chocobo grew more irritated, screeching and screaming and seemingly making the ground tremble. Those birds could sure be powerful when they wanted to be.

Rikku was lifted into the air again as the chocobo jumped. She felt her body slam back into the saddle, but it was her stomach that hit it hard. She gasped, the wind knocked out of her. She tried desperately to grab some air, but already the chocobo was jumping and running again, hurtling through the crowd. All Rikku could do was lie on the saddle, on her stomach, and cling to what chocobo feathers she could find. How embarrassing. Just after saving Spira, too.

"HEY! YOU!" A familiar voice caught Rikku completely off guard. If she hadn't been in danger of being trampled to death by a chocobo, she would have let go of her chocobo feather grips in shock. The bird didn't listen to the voice, but it didn't need to. Right then, a small rock was thrown at the bird. It stopped immediately, glaring over where the rock had come from.

Gippal, after seeing Rikku being tossed into the air, knew she was in danger. Sure, chocobos were friendly creatures…when they were sane. It looked like Rikku had picked up one of the chocobos that had missed its rabies shot. Gippal quickly regained the use of his limbs, running to the back of the temple and scrambling for some kind of loose stones. Sure, he really hated Rikku right now. And sure, he thought it was funny at first, but he couldn't forget their friendship. He couldn't just act like he didn't know her. Not now…now that she was here. Alone. For some reason.

And Gippal wanted to find out that reason.

So, with no regard for the chocobo, Gippal threw a stone at it. He was glad to see it made the chocobo stop. Feeling rather pleased with himself, Gippal didn't think to run. Because that's what he should have done. Seconds later, the chocobo was racing top speed at Gippal.

"WHOA!" he cried, dodging the bird as it flapped past him. For a few seconds, he caught a glimpse of Rikku's scared, shocked face. But seconds later, he was rolling on the ground, scrambling back up. He paused, and so did the chocobo. It was an Al Bhed Chocobo Showdown. Gippal felt stupid for giving it a title, but every fight deserved its name.

Well, it was supposed to be a fight. Until Rikku jumped off the saddle and took advantage of the semi-tame chocobo. She grabbed the reins and dragged it over to the temple, where she looped and tied and knotted the reins around a pole. She began to stroke the feathers, trying to calm it down. The chocobo did indeed seem to calm down, but it was trembling anxiously still. Gippal sighed heavily. Darn. Wasn't he supposed to the knight in shining armor that rescued her?

Wait. Why would I want to rescue her? What is wrong with me? Shaking his head, Gippal stayed where he was, too angry to get closer and too polite to run back into the temple, although that's what he wanted to do desperately.

Suddenly, he noticed everyone was staring at Rikku. He felt a sudden overprotective instinct take over. Before he knew what he was doing, he was running up to the crowds. "Okay people, nothing here to see! Just a chocobo who got a little excited by all the people! You! Hey! Do you want to get fired?" he yelled at the Al Bhed workers, feeling immensely agitated. They didn't need a second warning to scramble back to whatever they had been doing. Seeing his workers listen to his every word, visitors began to run back into line. They didn't want to feel the wrath of this man.

Gippal sighed heavily, sinking to the ground. Who knew it would be so tough avoiding a stupid chocobo? That's not what's bothering you. You're worried about why Rikku is here.

"Um…Gippal?"

He froze. His heartbeat sped up to a rate he didn't know possible. He had been in the process of rubbing his face with his hands, so he chose to keep them there so he wouldn't have to see her. From where her voice was coming from, he realized she must have still been standing.

"Uh…yea?" Oh, nice.

"Um…thanks."

He grunted. Classy.

"Well—er—okay. I'll be, well, in the…over by the…um…I'm going to go check on the chocobo again."

He heard her footsteps fade away, and then stop at the bird. He sighed heavily into his hands. Great. She had talked to him. Which meant she was here to talk to him. What did THAT mean? Was she going to explain? Was she going to apologize? He hoped so. He just wanted what they had had back then back…but was it so easy to forgive and forget? Well, heck, it should be! Gippal thought. But…I'll have to wait and see.

He gave one last sigh and then stood up, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, Rikku." Her name felt foreign as it rolled off of his tongue. She paused. He noticed.

"Y-Yea?"

They were only a few feet apart, but Gippal still felt immensely far away. Like she was all the way by the bridge and he was still back at the temple.

"Fro'na oui rana?" (Why're you here?) He knew it was no use talking in Al Bhed to hide their conversation. The other Al Bhed would understand. But he felt more comfortable in their native language.

"Is...Is...E haat du dymg du oui." (Um…Um…I need to talk to you.)

"Oh, really?" Gippal asked, switching back to English. "About what? The weather? Saving Spira? Ignoring me for two years? Abandoning me in Luca?" Gippal hissed the last part, feeling his anger starting to drip out. He had been hiding it for so long, keeping it tight underneath a lid…

"Gippal," she moaned, her head still facing the chocobo. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand," Gippal said acidly. "I understand you didn't want to see me. Talk to me. Look at me. And here we are, two years later, and you STILL won't look at me!" Gippal threw his hands up in the air for emphasis.

Rikku turned around, stomping over to him. She poked him in the chest, glaring at him. "Hey. Hi. Hello. I'm looking at you! See? I'm looking at you!" Her voice matched his in anger. Gippal swallowed the insults that were rising in his throat.

"You don't GET it, Rikku! After what you did to me in Luca, you didn't come looking! You didn't come to find me! 'I'll come back to see you!' Remember that? Do you remember? Well I do! I guess you don't!"

Rikku paused. Then she hung her head, silent as the grave. Gippal's eye narrowed suspiciously. "Don't you pull the stupid guilt trip on me. Just tell me the truth, or Shiva help me—"

"I told you. I had to save Yunie."

Gippal spluttered. "Yuna? You had to save your freakin' cousin? THAT'S what you didn't tell me? I would have been able to accept it if you had just explained, Rikku!"

"I—I…" Rikku sighed heavily, her face still looking at her shoes. "After the boat was attacked by Sin, I found myself on the shores off of Luca. A lady named Edel, she took me in. Her and a group of Al Bhed. They were trying to save Summoners. Trying to protect them from sacrificing themselves. And—well—I felt I needed to help them, after how much they had helped me. When…that day…you were—you saw me and…I was going to go do a—a mission. And it was my cousin…it was Yuna, I had to stop. I needed to stop her!" Rikku looked up at Gippal suddenly, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "I needed to!"

Gippal immediately felt guilty. But then anger covered the guilt. What did HE have to be sorry for? He hadn't done a thing! "But you just—you didn't say a word! It—It…We were friends. Close friends. Best friends. And I thought you would tell me…I thought you could trust me…"

Rikku bit her bottom lip. The hurt in Gippal's voice was inevitable. Try as he might to hide it, it was there. Rikku found her composure slowly starting to crumble. "I don't know what I was doing," she finally admitted. "I felt stretched. I felt divided. I thought…I thought that in doing that mission, I might find you. I might see you. I wasn't expecting you to already be in Luca. I wasn't expecting you to be alive! Do you know happy I was to see you there, alive?"

Gippal snorted. "You sure had a stupid way of showing it."

Rikku frowned, but she knew he was right. "I was just…I thought I needed to do the mission first. I was timed. If I had waited any longer, the Al Bhed would have left without me and I would have failed. I thought I would do the mission, come back in less then a day and find you. But I was attacked and thrown onto the shores of the Moonflow. Tidus found me, and then I just…became a part of the group. Before I knew what was happening years passed. I tried to find you! I did! But none of the Al Bhed would tell me where you were. And then…then THIS came out!" She pointed at the members of the Faction. "You blame ME of not trying to contact you, and here you were, tinkering away at machina!"

"Machines," he corrected.

"It's all the SAME!" Rikku felt tears in her eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away. "I never wanted it to be this long! I wanted to see you and tell you and then we could go back to being friends. We could go back to the way things used to be! I didn't know there'd be so many obstacles…"

"And then time passed, and you wanted to see me less and less because of embarrassment," Gippal informed her. Rikku's cheeks turned pink. "I know," Gippal muttered. "I felt that way too."

Rikku gave him a wobbly smile. "Oh, Gippal. If I could go back to that day, I would definitely have stopped and told you what was going on. OH, I'M SO SORRY!" Rikku gave a great, big, wracking, sob and threw her arms around Gippal. He reacted like any surprised man—he kept his arms at his side and his eye widened to the size of a saucer.

"Rikku!" he hissed, ripping her off and setting her back on her feet. She gave a little sniffle. "People are watching!" He turned his eye to the group of people outside the temple that were trying their hardest to watch sneakily. At Gippal's glance they hurried back to work.

"Rikku," he said a bit more quietly. He felt the anger he had held for so many years begin to melt away slowly. "Rikku, it's okay."
Rikku gave another hearty sniff. "Gippal, I—I did come back. See? I'm here. I came back to see you…I did." She rubbed at her eyes. Gippal grinned and ruffled her hair. She gave a gasp. Obviously she didn't want her hair to be messed up.

"Gippal!"

He grinned. "Sorry."

"For what?" she asked sneakily.

"For—" He paused. "For everything."

Rikku grinned at him. "Do you think…do you think we can be friends again?" And maybe…maybe you'll let me into your past a bit? Let me get to know you?

Gippal grinned. "I'm positive."

The two smiled at each other, both at a happiness they had forgotten.

Of course, perfect moments are always ruined. At just that moment, the chocobo let out another screech. Rikku whirled around to see it yank the flimsy leather rein off of the pole. Giving another screech and some twitters, the bird ran down the path and faded as it tramped across the bridge. Gippal and Rikku watched it, silently amazed at what had just happened.

"What…just happened?" Gippal asked, voicing their thoughts.

"Oh, I think I have an idea," drawled a voice from just behind the temple; right where the chocobo had been tied up. Rikku let out a shuddering gasp. Gippal's hand immediately flew to the small pistol at his side. Of course, no one else saw what the two saw. Everyone else was on the other side of the temple.

What they saw…brought back terrible memories.

A/N: Ooh, ohemgee, Rikku and Gippal finally meet and talk things through! Somewhat. In following chapters, WE WILL MEET THE HORRIFYING MYSTERY BEHIND THE TEMPLE, and, we will hopefully, as time goes on, learn more about Gippal's slavery past! Huzzah! Review please!