Nine Months
Chapter 49
Rikku looks out the window, one side of which is finally open in the early twilight hours. There are a few reporters hanging around, though Gippal asked the media to stay away from the hospital earlier. She waves at the few who attempt to come close to the window, finding that it has a tendency to make them back off. Gippal is sleeping on a wooden chair near the corner, shielded from the sight of the reporters by the half-closed window. He hasn't slept much since the explosion, and the nurses had nearly rejoiced when he'd started getting drowsy that afternoon.
She looks out at the street in frustration. She's finally clean, and her ribs have completely healed thanks to the doctors, but she still hasn't seen her baby. And she feels a little bit pathetic for being jealous that Gippal has gone in multiple times that day.
There's a soft knock on the door, and Rikku pulls herself away from her thoughts. The desk nurse peeks her head in. "Lady Yuna and Tidus are here to see you, Rikku."
Rikku grimaces, glancing over at Gippal once more. She's not sure she wants to see her cousin yet, but how can she just ignore her? "I... okay. Go ahead and let her in... thanks..."
"What if she's asleep?" Yuna turns her gaze from the empty hallway where the nurse had disappeared to, and glances up at Tidus beside her. "I think she'd rather we see her in the morning – I told you…"
Tidus squeezes her arm slightly, shaking his head. "We should try, at least," he encourages. "She's Rikku. Isn't she always awake?"
Yuna smiles faintly. "Not all the time. I remember some days we had to get Barkeep to splash some cold water on her. She always got so angry at me and Paine… But five minutes later, and she'd completely forget about it. And sometimes, even fallen back to sleep." Her small laugh quickly fades. "…But that was a long time ago."
"I'm sure she's still the same. Heck, I disappeared for two years and she hadn't changed –" He stops mid-sentence, a nervous chuckle making his mouth uneasy as he scratches his head in as casual a manner as a man could manage. "—much." Yuna elbows him in the stomach slightly and he groans. "Well, you definitely changed."
Yuna pauses, turning around to face him. "But we… you and me… we didn't grow apart or anything. I mean, even though I 'changed'… um…"
Tidus raises his eyebrow, shaking his head vigorously. "It wasn't like you were a whole 'nother person, Yuna." He offers a smile. "I'll always love you, no matter how much time we spend apart."
She returns his smile with a sigh of amusement. "You think that's true for every relationship?"
He thinks for a moment. "Well, only if you really care about that person, and that person cares about you. Nothing should keep you apart. Not distance, not time."
"Lady Yuna."
They both look up, spotting the nurse standing down the hallway by the half opened door.
"She's ready to see you."
With a tentative nod, she slowly lifts her foot off the ground. But Tidus, holding tight onto her arm, lunges forward and pulls her swiftly along. "C'mon Yuna. I told you she was awake!"
Yuna can only nod back before they enter the dark room, lit dimly by a small lamp in the corner by a sleeping Gippal. On the bed, is Rikku's shadowy figure, and Yuna steps back as Tidus rushes forward excitedly.
"Rikku!" he shouts, with open arms. "Long time no see, kiddo! The people here wouldn't tell us, but –" He glances down at her abdomen, buried under blankets and sheets. "Is it…" He makes a face. "Out?"
She's very relieved to see Tidus, because even if she didn't realize it before... she missed him. And she doesn't even mind that Yuna is hovering by the door because of Tidus' enthusiastic greeting. She grins and sits up, holding her arms out for a hug. "Long time no see is right!" she grins, speaking quietly. She glances down at her abdomen as well, thinking momentarily about how shocked she'd been when she'd looked in the mirror without seeing the bulge she'd become accustomed to. "I went into labor a little while after Yuna left yesterday, actually... and I delivered early this morning." She smiles up at him. "Thanks for the flowers, they're beautiful."
Tidus's eyes bulge wide. "What?! It's true?" He groans, crossing his arms. "You should've told us... We could've gotten the baby some balloons," he grumbles. He turns to Yuna, gesturing for her to come inside. "Can you believe it? You missed it by a few hours, Yuna."
Yuna nods with a humble smile as she hesitantly walks toward them. "Congratulations, Rikku. Is it a boy or a girl?" she asks quietly.
Rikku smiles tentatively at her, reaching behind herself to adjust her pillows to keep her hands busy. "A girl. Her name's Ruba." She glances up at Tidus, shrugging. "We probably couldn't've taken balloons in to her, anyway." She points at the window. "Could you get the curtain, Ti? If they see you two in here, they'll start the camera swarms again."
"Sure," he says, first reaching for the fabric, and then walking backwards with a sigh.
Yuna makes her way toward him to help. Her voice is barely audible over Gippal's soft snores and Tidus' shuffling. "Is she... okay? She must be... very little."
Rikku bites her lip for a moment and shrugs. "She's really small. Scary small. She's doing as well as can be expected, I guess. Her lungs aren't really mature, yet, so they've got her on a breathing machine, and there's a bunch of monitors and stuff hooked up to her, apparently. Dad told me all the wires were making him nervous. And she's got an IV, and stuff..." She bites her lip a little harder, now both frustrated and slightly upset. "Her heart rate dropped a lot about two hours ago, it was pretty scary. Gippal ran down to the intensive care nursery and stuff... while the nurses worked on her he got to touch her a little, and talk to her. It went back to normal after all that, but... it made me really nervous. I only saw her for about thirty seconds before they took her away, and now they won't let me get up..."
Yuna smiles gently. "They just want you to rest, Rikku. You've... been through a lot recently. Your body's in no shape to get up and move around."
Tidus nods. "Maybe you can ask them to take you there in a wheelchair or something." He turns around to look at Gippal, the apparent father of Ruba and Machine Faction leader whom he's never really talked to. "I'm sure Gippal'll help hold you up while you're in there."
Rikku shrugs again, sighing heavily as she scoots over to make room on the bed for them if they want to sit down. "I asked... they said I can go tomorrow, maybe." She sighs and looks up at Yuna, grinning a bit. "After you left they gave me so much pain medication I felt like I was floating."
Yuna laughs softly, but her uneasiness doesn't subside. "At least, you're alright now."
She nods, looking a bit nervously up at her cousin. "Thanks for helping with me yesterday... it was nice to wake up to a familiar face."
Yuna's slightly surprised by the comment, but she nods in reply, "I was worried you'd be really hurt... The explosion was all over the news." She glances down, pressing her hands together as she feels Tidus' arm drape over shoulders. "And Gippal told me to come straight away... He didn't want to leave you alone in the room while he was out."
Rikku nods and glances at Gippal's slumped and unconscious form for a moment. "Yesterday he was acting weird and he wouldn't tell me who's okay and who's hurt or anything. He just brushes it off. I think some of the people who were standing near me when it blew might not have made it." She glances at Yuna's clasped hands as well. "I was lucky enough to hit the wall instead of something sharp." She decides that the subject is a little too awkward to continue. "You guys can sit down, you know. Make yourselves comfortable. You must've been on the boat for a few hours to get back here so fast from Besaid."
Tidus shakes his head, making an effort to grin after Rikku's somber account of the explosion. "Private airship."
Yuna sighs, touching his arm tenderly. "...with Brother and Buddy. They said they'll drop by to see you tomorrow morning. They said they had something to take care of first."
Rikku's a little surprised to hear that. She didn't think her brother would let Tidus onto his ship, let alone come and visit. "Is it bad that I'm shocked that they're coming?" She grins a little, too.
"They were pretty concerned about you and the baby. Buddy was quieter, but Brother was shouting at the screen every time they played Gippal's interviews. Gippal refused to reveal anything about you other than you were fine. He didn't even mention Ruba!" Yuna exclaims, catching herself before getting too excited.
Rikku grins back and sits up a little taller. "I noticed... I think he was trying to keep himself from getting mad in front of the cameras... I hope Brother isn't too mad at me for getting myself hurt." With a sigh she grins apologetically at Yuna. Rikku wants to talk to her, but she's not sure if she wants to reveal certain details in front of Tidus just yet.
"Oh don't worry. Brother's mad at Gippal," Tidus says, pointing toward the chair. "I don't think they should be alone together."
Yuna nods in agreement. "But as long as you rest up and you're fine, hopefully he'll calm down." She smiles. "We'll all be more relieved when you're not in this hospital bed anymore, Rikku."
She nods fervently in agreement to Yuna's statement. "I'll be relieved when I'm not in it, too." She thinks quietly for a moment. "Why's he mad at Gippal?" she asks curiously. "Just 'cause he didn't say anything about me on camera?"
Tidus frowns slightly, and Yuna glances away uncomfortably. "Rikku..." Tidus starts in a whisper, but Yuna touches his hand.
"Maybe we should go. It's pretty late," she says. She looks briefly at Rikku. "The nurse didn't want us visiting you at this hour anyway."
Tidus hesitates momentarily before sighing. "Yeah, we'll come back tomorrow."
Rikku blinks a bit confusedly at them, looking back and forth between the two. Finally, she sighs as well, and leans back, a bit deflated that they're leaving so soon.
"Alright... Gippal can take you to see Ruba in the morning, if you want. Maybe I'll be able to go with you." She pauses, glancing at Yuna once more. "I'll tell the nurses to let you guys in no matter what. You're family, after all. And if you need a place to stay... Dad's at the hotel down the road and to the right. I'm sure he'll get them to add a room onto his account for you." Rikku gives them a genuine smile as she leans back against her pillows. "Thank you for coming... it means a lot."
"Don't mention it, Rikku," Yuna says. She rubs her arm with a shy smile. "We care about you. Nothing... would keep us apart."
Tidus squeezes her shoulder gently before giving a final glance to Rikku. "We'll be back first thing tomorrow - with balloons."
A/N: We are terrible, hideously awful updaters, and we're so sorry everyone! The next chapter will be posted some time this week since this one was relatively short, and the feedback from last chapter was so terrific! (Thanks everyone!) We were gonna make this chapter a deleted scene, but we figured it was good to show a clear up in Rikku's and Yuna's relationship. Please tell us what you thought about it!
