Chapter Twenty-Five: Pretty Damn Fine Aftermath
by PrettyGothGirl
All Disclaimers Apply: FFX-2 is Square Enix's, Fanon culture was compiled by me.
Summary: Love is like the rose, it only thrives with
tender care and a little adversity. Chapter Twenty-Five: Rikku goes
home and both her and Gippal feel the aftermath of their union
Author's Note: Extreme Fanon AU, in short the Al
Bhed are a tribal culture with no interaction with outsiders. Email or
comment if you would like to see the source document.
Anikki stalked back and forth, running his hands through his Mohawk and checking the horizon for signs of someone, something, anything! Dachi and Keyakku leaned against a hover. They talked in low voices, eyes flicking to the horizon as much as Anikki's.
Rikku was late. She hadn't been seen, not a commsphere call, not a patrol sighting, and no signs of anything along her intended route.
Anikki paced.
Father wasn't too worried, yet. Anikki could see the tightness around Cid's eyes though. This wasn't like Rikku. It wasn't like her at all. She wouldn't be this late without a call, a few hours maybe, not a whole day.
They were trying to keep it quiet. Rumors were flying already. Anikki's hands shook and he fisted them. Rikku kidnapped. Rikku hurt. Rikku dead. He closed his eyes and turned on his heel.
"Anikki look!" Keyakku shouted.
Anikki's eyes flew open and he spun, looking in the direction of Keyakku's hand. A dot on the horizon, could it be-? "Rikku!" He took a step towards it.
Keyakku put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait."
Anikki stopped and felt his shoulder muscles bunch up. "I don't want to."
"If that's Rikku, she's still pretty far out." Dachi said.
They watched the dot in silence.
"It's not moving very fast." Keyakku murmured. His hand tightened on Anikki's shoulder.
"We-" Anikki bit off the rest of his sentence. He knew they wouldn't let him go out to her, if it was Rikku.
Keyakku let him go and spun. "I'll go get some binocs." He ran off into the tents.
"Tell father." Anikki murmured. He knew that Keyakku would but he felt it had to be said. He watched the dot. Please be Rikku. Please. Please. He didn't want to lose his little sister.
"She's tough, Anikki." Dachi said. "She's fine."
"But what if she's not?" He didn't want to take his eyes off the dot, but he wanted to glare at Dachi. The dot was his hope that his sister was okay, that she was alive.
"Then-" Dachi trailed off. Searches would be conducted. Rikku would be found. Dead or alive the guilty parties would be punished.
"If she's dead, it won't bring her back." Anikki gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the lump in his throat. "There's no replacement." Nhadala couldn't replace Gia no matter how hard she tried. Nhadala wasn't his mother.
"Woah, don't get ahead of yourself."
Silence. The dot got a little larger. Anikki didn't trust himself to say anything. It wasn't Dachi's sister. Dachi didn't have a sister, but still. It wasn't Dachi's family. He couldn't understand. He hadn't felt an overwhelming sense of loss, a loss of self when an integral piece of the family was gone. He knew it wasn't fair to Dachi. Dachi hadn't lost a mother. Hadn't lost part of his family that bound them together. He couldn't go through that again. He couldn't lose Rikku's laughter and smile, so much like his mothers.
"I got the binocs." Keyakku said.
Anikki turned and almost tore them from his grip. "Let me look."
Keyakku let them go. "We're all worried brother." He said. He kept his tone soft.
Anikki's shoulders slumped. "I- just need to know." He set them to his eyes and focused on the dot, increasing the magnification. Long hair, blurry face, short, slight in build, he relaxed. "It's- it's her." He said. His voice all strangled.
"Let me see." Keyakku grabbed the binocs and put them to his eyes.
Anikki sank to the sand. He swallowed and swallowed. She was safe. She was alive. Rikku was alive. He wasn't going to cry. It wasn't manly to cry.
"It looks like her. Can't see shit with these things though."
"It's her." Anikki whispered.
Keyakku snorted and looked down. The binocs were still pointed out towards the dot. "How can you tell?"
"I just know it."
They waited and watched.
--
The sun hung low on the horizon. The boys squinted against the glare and watched as the hover they'd been waiting on all day finally chugged into the vicinity. It chugged, sputtered and died a few feet from the hover pool.
Anikki couldn't wait any longer. He dashed across the sands and wrapped his arms about his sister. "Rikku," he pushed her away and looked into her face. Yeah, it was his sister, drained, tired, tight around the eyes and shaking. He hugged her close again and pulled her out of the hover seat. She slumped against his chest.
Keyakku put a hand on her shoulder. "Your late. We were worried."
"My hover broke down." She whispered. "I-I think it was sabotaged."
The boys went silent. Dachi blinked. No one was asking the obvious question. "How did you fix it?"
She pushed away with Anikki's chest and sat back down on the seat. She rubbed her forehead and then her neck. "Spit, wire, bobby pins, blind hope." She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. "If- if it was sabotaged. It was clever."
Keyakku knelt next to her. Anikki started to pace again. He put a hand on her thigh. "Who? Why?"
"I wish I knew." She opened her eyes a mere slit and looked at him. "It's been haunting me the whole way back." She bit her lip. "I wasn't sure if I would make it back, even with the repairs." She hugged herself and closed her eyes.
"You should've called for help." Keyakku said.
She shook her head rapidly. "I- I couldn't."
"You have a commsphere." Keyakku glared at her. "Use it or else what good is it."
Rikku sighed. "That isn't why I couldn't, Keyakku." Her arm slid down to across her belly and her hand rested on the seam of her legs. "Anyways, there's no telling now, everything is all messed up." She swallowed. Keyakku frowned and looked towards Anikki. He hoped his brother had noticed her body language. "And now I'm going to have to fix it or else-" She closed her eyes again and swallowed a sob.
"Rikku." Dachi came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I- I can't be stuck here with that-that woman and now that-" Her shoulder's convulsed. "It's going to take most my savings to fix it."
Anikki opened his mouth. Most likely to ask 'now that what?' and Keyakku kicked his ankle. Anikki yelped and hopped about. "We'll help." He said and patted her knee.
"Thanks." She smiled, a tiny flare of happiness in her eyes, behind the welling of tears. Keyakku smiled back. There were times he loved being a big brother. "I guess I could make some extra supplies to pay it off. I'm sure the girls would like it." She fiddled with her bracelets again. "If they can afford it." She finished in a low tone.
"Now you're thinking." Dachi nodded.
She smiled up at him. "I'll trade some to the Nightmare too. I'm sure you'd like that."
Dachi shifted on his feet. "That's hitting below the belt."
Rikku snickered and pushed her body to her feet. "Oh definitely. I'm sure it will enjoy the attention however."
"Rikku!" Anikki shouted and flushed.
Keyakku covered his eyes and started to laugh.
She groaned and stretched. "I'm off to bed." She started off towards the tents.
"Tell father your back!" Anikki shouted after her. "Where did she get that mouth?" He muttered.
Dachi rolled his eyes. "I'm thinking real hard about this one." He gestured at the hover. "Shall we?"
"Well, it wasn't from me." Keyakku stood and started to push on the hover. It creaked and when it moved it smelled like burnt electronics and hot metal. He grimaced.
Dachi snorted. "Iola's just as bad, and she's younger."
"Scary." Keyakku said without any feeling. "Anikki, are you going to help us?"
"Wha-" Anikki jumped and moved over and started pushing. "Sorry." He paused. "You kicked me."
Keyakku couldn't restrain the 'well duh' expression from creeping across his face.
"There were a whole bunch of missing ends in her talk." Dachi frowned. "Who helped her fix it? Where was she? Or else? Now that?"
Keyakku grunted. "We think- she has a boy."
"Ah." Dachi nodded.
"What do you mean, who helped her fix it?" Anikki asked. "She said nothing about anyone else helping her."
Dachi's eyebrow rose. "Anikki, no offense, your sister is pretty damn fine mechanic in more ways than one but this- this is trash. This is out of her depth."
"May-maybe it wasn't before." Anikki frowned.
Dachi pretended not to notice. "Plus, this thing is her baby. She's not gonna just let anyone touch it."
"Maybe her boy?" Keyakku ventured. "If she's seeing him, maybe she'd let him help her out with it."
Dachi nodded. "All right, let's say it is her boy. If said boy even exists. She still could have called and asked for help. This wreck needs help, extra supplies. It would have been safer and no one would fault her for it."
Keyakku grinned. "Maybe she didn't want us to interrupt, mixing her crash with pleasure." The words rolled off his tongue. "Potential embarrassment being caught in that position."
"Plausible." Dachi nodded. They shoved the hover into an empty work tent and he straightened. "So, we're assuming if she has a boy, the boy's not from this camp."
"That's what Aasta said she said." Keyakku stretched.
"We're believing Aasta now?" Dachi leaned against the hover and crossed his arms.
Anikki waved a hand. "Aasta lies all the time."
"So, let me get this straight, you think Rikku has a boy," Dachi tilted his head. "Aasta says she does, but Aasta is a notorious liar."
"Yep." Anikki shook his head. "It's all crazy."
Dachi gazed thoughtfully at the hover and then looked at them. "You know, you could just ask her about it."
They stared at each other for a few minutes.
"Too easy." Keyakku dismissed it. "And she'd lie."
Anikki grinned and bounced up and down. "Besides, this is more fun."
Dachi shook his head. Well, he'd tried.
--
Rikku stuck her head into her Pops tent. "Pops, I made it back." She didn't really want to go inside. Nhadala sat on cushions next to her father. She didn't get a choice. He bounded to his feet and dragged her into the room.
"Rikku." He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her. He rubbed his chin in her hair, goatee catching on the tightly bound hair. "You're okay, you're alive." He pushed her away and ran his hands along her arms.
"Of course, I'm alive." She laughed and tried to pass it off. She tried not to think about the five minutes she thought she was going to die when the fire started and the engine almost gave out and she lost control. She felt her muscles start to tremble and she forced herself to relax. The thought of what came after she'd managed to make it to her destination helped. An unbidden smile blossomed on her face. "Really, I'm fine."
Cid blinked slowly. He frowned and stepped back. "You're a day overdue."
Rikku's eyes flickered to Nhadala. She looked back at him. "My hover broke down, badly." She shifted her weight. "I had to repair it enough to get back."
"You've a commsphere." Cid glared at her.
She stared evenly into his eyes. "It was also broke." She lied without even a thought. There was no way she was going explain to her father that she was in the disputed territories with a man.
His eyes narrowed a little bit more. She tried to breath evenly. Finally, he grunted and crossed his arms. "Have someone take a look at it then."
She looked at her feet. "I will, Pops."
"It's dangerous you going out alone." Nhadala took a sip of her wine.
Rikku's head came up and she glared at Nhadala for a second then turned her eyes to Cid. "I'm tired Pops. Steering wanted to list to the right." She half smiled. "I should get some sleep if I'm going to get a head start on fixing it tomorrow." She went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Night Pops."
Rikku backed out of the tent and made a beeline for her own. She pushed the flap aside and the remaining light outside saw her packs piled by her bed. She grinned. Brothers were useful sometimes. She let the flap fall and turned on a light. She reached down into the pack and pulled out her commsphere. She grimaced. "Sorry sexy." She whispered, turned it over, opened the back and mangled the workings. It sparked and went dark. She let it slip through her fingers and hit the floor. She sighed and sat down on the bed.
Now she really was cut off. She reached up and worked her fingers under the ponytail and pulled it out. The band fell from her fingers as she put her hand on top of the bed. She looked over her shoulder at the expanse of bedcovers. Her eyes tickled and she closed them. The bed was far too big, too big for just her slight body. She fell backwards, spreading her arms out to try and take up more space.
Gippal. She mouthed the word.
Her body ached, fatigue, stressed muscles, desire. She rolled over with a sigh, eyes opening, red covers and her arms. She curled up her fingers, watching the muscles.
She wasn't a virgin anymore. She turned her hands, golden light sparked off the diamonds in her bracelets, sex, the most intimate of embraces. She shivered. The knowledge, the awakening, she'd known it was coming but hadn't. It hadn't been planned. There was no forethought to the encounter. It'd just overtaken them, a storm of desires and emotions.
She wanted more, now. Him beside her, on top of her, inside her, her fingers wouldn't suffice. There wouldn't be his scent, the rough feeling of his fingers caressing her skin. His mouth hot and wet wouldn't be making her melt. She moaned, body pulsing. She sat up and started to undress. The ends of her hair brushed across her bare back and shoulders. She shuddered. She closed her eyes and ran her hands over her skin, cupping her breasts. Her nipples were hard. This body, this skin, this was the body he'd worshiped, made his own, become one with.
She smiled full and lazy. This body, hers, it was short and not full busted, but it was in proportion with itself. Her eyes opened. She glanced over towards the bed, half expecting Gippal to be lying there, sketching her. Just like she'd caught him sketching her after she fell asleep. The scratch of the charcoal on paper had woken her. She'd cracked her eyes to see him, tip of his tongue sticking out as he sketched her face. She hadn't moved until he finished. Then she'd pounced.
Rikku slipped a satiny nightdress over her head. She pulled down the covers and slid into bed. If Gippal were here, she wouldn't bother with the dress. If Gippal were here, she wouldn't bother with a lot of things. She wouldn't have bothered with undressing. She would have let him do it. She wouldn't bother with a bath. Well, she hadn't bothered with that and she needed one.
She curled up and wrapped her arms around a pillow. Gippal. She closed her eyes and saw him smiling at her behind them. She shivered. She'd kill for that smile. That smile made her feel warm. Like, she was special. She was a woman in his eyes. He'd gone so slow at first, been rough when he needed to be, gentle when he had to. She writhed against the bed. How had he known just how to be? How could he just know how much she could take? He hadn't treated her like a glass doll, something fragile that could break. He'd treated her like a living thing, like he loved her.
Eli and Aelwin thought that Gippal loved her. And when it had come to sex, she hadn't known what to expect. He was so experienced. He'd had so many partners. It was why she didn't want anything planned. Prior planning could mean faked desires, insincere wants, thought out moves. None of that had happened. He'd looked at her, touched her like he loved her, spontaneously and without prompting.
For some odd reason, a tear welled in her closed eyes and slipped down her cheek. She couldn't stop smiling though. He loved her. She clutched the pillow a little tighter. She loved him, if loving him was never wanting to let him go, leave his side and do anything to make him happy. Maybe, maybe one day soon they could say it to each other.
--
Gippal flopped down onto his bed, his arms and legs spread out. He stared at the ceiling. He looked over at his commsphere. It was dead and silent. Then looked back at the ceiling. Was Rikku thinking about him? He didn't expect a call from her.
Damn, did he want one. He wanted to talk to her, just talk. Maybe see her body a little bit. Let her tease him with bits of flesh. He groaned. After the night he'd just spent with her, it'd be torture, but oh so sweet with anticipation for the next encounter.
Intellectually, he knew it wasn't safe to call him. She might be watched due to the breakdown. She'd also made a comment in passing that made him think she was going to deliberately break her commsphere. Emotionally, he wanted a call, to see her face, hear her voice. Partly to know that she was safe and their repairs had held together and partly just to see her, to know that she was real.
He hoped she made it back okay.
She had better have made it back all right. If she didn't, he'd never get another chance to be with her. And sands, he wanted to be with her again. He hadn't known it was possible to be so intimate with a woman. It'd taken his breath away.
If he was honest with himself, and he didn't really want to be, he'd never tried to be intimate. Just, with Rikku it came natural to hold eye contact, hold her hand, go slow until neither of them could stand it any longer. Sennet's questions poured through his mind. Why her? Why now? How did she fit?
Gippal had told him Rikku was different. And maybe she was, or maybe he was. He'd always suppressed his desires for his partner's desires. And all he'd read from them was quick and easy, sate the lust for now and then leave. Rikku didn't come off like that. She wanted the closeness, her entire body screamed for it- was it all Rikku? Was it because she was a girl who wouldn't stand to be treated like the just another girl? Or was it, he had changed? He'd stopped thinking totally about his partner's desires and gone about sating his own. Was it that he wanted the closeness too?
Contact. Intimacy with an equal, Rikku understood. He was so tired of being alone.
She was slowly tearing down all the little defenses he'd built to guard himself around women. He should be scared. Yet, he shuddered. He couldn't. He washelping her. He'd told her that he was ready for this. Ready to be in a relationship, a relationship that he'd kept up for a few months without having sex.
Why now? Why her?
A relationship in that he was willingly taking all the steps. He was doing the right things, being intimate in private and in public. He hadn't screwed up. Yet. He didn't dare. It had to mean something.
What was it about her? Her body with its curves and smooth skin? Something that made him wish he worked clay. So he could make a statue as an excuse to touch her. Her eyes that sparkled finer than emeralds and greener than leaves? Her candy pink lips that curved into bright smiles and begged to be kissed? Her laugh? Her ability to stand up to him? Her strength?
None of them seemed like the right answer. None of it seemed to account for the sense of rightness he felt when he stared into her eyes and joined with her. No reasoning could make the perfection of their connected bodies make anymore sense. There was no logic behind it. Maybe, there was no one answer.
Why her? Why now? She fit. How? She just did.
He wasn't lonely with her. He could tell her his problems and she could truly sympathize. She might not have solutions. She could still listen and give suggestions. He could be himself. He liked the man he was with her. He didn't have to be one hundred percent sure and there was no control. Rikku was just as likely to take it from his hands as make him lose it. He shivered. He didn't think he could handle her and another woman, even if wanted too.
Complete. Sated. Yet, looking forward to more. This was just the beginning. Sex wasn't the goal. He wasn't anywhere done yet. Shit, it was a marker though, a completely unplanned, on the fly marker, sex, against the side of a hover. She'd been eager and the way her eyes had melted when he entered her. He didn't think he could ever get enough of that look in her eyes or the noises that had torn from her throat. And he could have it as often as they both wanted.
She was his girl, his lover, his love-
Sands. He sat up and stared at the nearest wall, though he didn't see it. His lips parted. He was in love. He began to shake. "L-love." He whispered. "I- I love her." It somehow didn't seem as scary as it should have been when he said it out loud.
He looked back over at his commsphere. He hoped he wasn't the last to figure it out. He lay back down and grinned. Now, to figure out a way to tell herwithout making it into a huge deal. He wanted to see her face when she worked out what he'd said.
It was going to be a wonderful marker.
--
reviews are love, love me?!