Author's note: Left you at an evil cliffhanger there, didn't I? ^_^

Yay! 100 reviews! Thank you guys SO much! If I could I'd type down a thousand "thank-you's"… but then it would be a while till we got back to the story, ne? ^_^;;

Anyway, this chapter is a flash back of what happened on Rikku and Gippal's previous date. (Yay!)

Disclaimer: If I owned it, that 'dis' wouldn't be in front of the 'claimer,' eh?

Love Struck

Chapter 7

Wakey, wakey! (Day Eight)
_______________________

Rikku… It can't be. You can't be gone.

Was I? Who's talking to me?

There's so much we wanted to tell you…

Who wanted to tell me?

You were our shining light, our pillar of hope… and now you're gone for good.

No…

Now you're a memory… Memories are nice, but that's all they are…

No!

You were truly the merriest…

I still am!

"And I'm flattered." With that he took my hand gingerly and kneeled down to kiss it softly. I looked at him with wide eyes. He stood up and grinned at me. "Shall we?" he said as he stuck his arm out. I linked mine with his and we strolled into the temple arm in arm…

See ya later, Rikku…

NO!

My eyes shot open.

Owwie….

My head is killing me… Ow – and… so are my legs!

What happened back there? I-

Oh yeah... I fell.

I grumbled a bit, whining about my constant ache. By then I realized I was lying down somewhere, but I was just too sore to open my eyes and look around. I felt as if I had just been trampled by Sin. The pain wasn't immense enough to kill me, it was just barely enough to endure… I traced my sore fingers across my forehead. There was a bandage wrapped around my head. I suppose I must have bumped it really badly.

Extremely slowly, my eyes found the strength to open themselves. When my vision was clear, I figured out where I was…

My room?

In my house?

Okay… what in Spira was going on!?

"So…" a voice called. "You're finally awake"

My gaze automatically focused on where the voice came from. Gippal stood there… in the door way, hiding his relieved and happy expression behind his ever so popular cocky smile.

"Exactly how long have I been out?" I asked him groggily. Leaning my head farther into my pillow, I whined from my aggravating headache. I closed my eyes and tried to let the pain feel loose, but it didn't help.

He sighed at my question and took a seat on the small couch by the door. "I'd say about a week, Cid's girl." He ran his fingers through his blond hair. "You scared the chocobos out of me back there, you know."

I closed my eyes and relaxed in my bed. "Had a feeling I did..." I pulled the sheets closer to me. I froze. "Hold on – a WEEK?"  I questioned, not sure if I had heard right. "I've been unconscious for a whole seven days?"

He mumbled a 'yes.'

To be honest, I thought that it was about a couple of hours – a day at the most. That fall really must have knocked me out.

"What happened during the week while I was out cold?"

"Well…" He started, "You sure had quite the group wanting to see you." He shuffled a bit while he was lying down.

"What do you mean?" I asked him without opening my eyes.

"Your brother and your old man came rushing, as well as the High Summoner, her boyfriend, and Paine."

Uh-oh.

 "What was they're reaction?" I asked him with a hint of a troubled tone.

I could hear Gippal's amused chuckle. "Your cousin flipped out and cast Curaga on you several times."

"Several?" I interrupted.

"I lost count at around seven… or was that eight?"

Yunie, Yunie, Yunie…

"Your dad seriously freaked out though."

Oh no…

 "He ordered the crew to tear that hover apart piece by piece."

"And then?" I asked.

"Tear its pieces into pieces." He replied plainly. "Any further and that thing would have been dust."

"That's great." Well… glad to know that Pops didn't go too ballistic.

"Paine was a bit shocked, and your bro nearly had a heart attack."

"Whatever... Anything else?" I inquired in a monotone voice.

"Nope." He replied lazily. "Why? Were you expecting more?"

"Not really."

The room seemed cloaked in silence for the next couple of minutes. Just then, Gippal decided to speak up.

"Well…" he said as he jumped back up. "I'd better go and let you rest. We have a big day tomorrow!"

"A big – day?"

Gippal nodded.

"I owe you a date."

*

Oh Yevon… I completely forgot. I guess I was too busy with the fact that I fell of a cliff!

All I did was sigh. He said he'd make it a peaceful one because of my current situation.

Gippal + Peaceful? = miracle.

I had to admit that. I really wasn't sure how he would pull this off. Thinking about tomorrow made me shudder in nervousness. I shut my eyes slowly, reminiscing in the silence…

*

"Rikku, rinno ib ymnayto!" Brother yelled at me to pick up the pace. He walked frantically in circles as he waited for me.

I grunted. "Hold your shoopuf, you big baby!" I retorted as I put my hair up into my usual bun, with my tight braids hanging like always. "What's this guy like, anyways?"

"Lyh'd damm oui. Dryd'c fryd y pmeht tyda'c vun." With an irritated sigh, I looked back in my mirror to make sure my hair was okay.

Bleh. Blind dates… Who ever came up with those?

Whoever did must have been desperate... or blind.

And I had to go on one of them, with some guy I heard of fifteen minutes ago. I'm pretty sure his name was Gippal or something…oh, whatever. I put on a bit of lip gloss (not too much, didn't want to ruin my usual make-up-less look.) and I looked over at Brother who was tapping his foot frustratingly. I rolled my eyes. "Are you ready yet, or am I gonna have to wait forever for you?" I teased.

"It's about time!" Brother shouted. "Gippal is NOT a very patient person!" Walking down to the airship port, he took giant and quick steps. "C'mon! Let's get going!"

We boarded the airship as we traveled at fast speeds to the Moonflow, where I was to meet my date…

Oh boy…Well, it's not like it's my first date or anything… I-

Wait. This IS my first date. Double oh boy…

As he landed I began to feel my hands shaking. This was no time to be nervous! I saw a young man about my age ahead of us. I suppose that must be Gippal. He had his back facing me as I walked closer. I noticed that he was holding a bunch of flowers in his right hand and was tapping his foot uncontrollably. Glad to know that I wasn't the only one nervous…

Brother called over to him. "Gippal! Fa'na rana!"

As he turned around, I managed to get a look at his face. Something was strange about him, but one thing was definitely for sure…

He was pretty cute.

"Um… hi?" I greeted shyly. All he did was smile at me. He really had a nice smile… -Oh! What am I thinking?! Gippal held the flowers to me.

"Here. I got these for you. Brother said that you liked yellow…" I looked down at the yellow daisies. Good call. "Thanks." I replied. "That was really kind of you…"

Brother started to slowly scoot away. "I'll uh, leave you two alone now."

"That would be elegant…" I heard him mumble. I found myself giggling a bit. I whispered back to him, "Don't get your hopes up, he might just be hiding in a bush or something."

"Damn."

*

Gippal took me to dinner in a small ,l but very nice café. And after that, he asked if I wanted to go on a walk…

*

"So, I heard that you were a former guardian of the High Summoner Yuna…" He began. I nodded. "Yup. Quite the adventure I gotta say."

"Touché…"

"What about you? What do you do for a living?" I asked curiously.

"Me? Well… I'm working on starting a new organization."

"Ooh, big man aren't we?" I teased him.

"Got that right." He ran a hand through his hair (which I've gotta say, looked rather nice.) and continued. "As I was saying, I'm thinking of something having to do with Machina. Now that Sin's gone, no use to keep it away from the world, you know?"

"True, true. Actually, I've been traveling around Spira teaching others how to use Machina."

"Ah, I see. So you love machina to then, huh?"

"Mmhm…" I replied weakly.

"Maybe one day we'll be business partners." I giggled at his remark. One date and I was already starting to like the guy. We talked and talked, for what seemed like hours.

Just when things were getting good, Brother had to come running in…

"Okay! Date's over!" He yelled towards the two of us.

"Who named you the dating police?" Gippal asked as he raised a brow. "Rikku and I still have time for our date."

Brother scoffed. "Remember who set this up!? I did! So I'm in charge." He stated proudly. I looked at Gippal and he seemed to be thinking.

"Hey Brother, you got a Sphere that we can take a picture with?"

He looked at him strangely. "Sphere? What do you need pictures for?"

Gippal gazed at me and smiled. "To remember one of the best days of my life." I beamed at him. How sweet…

"Whatever you say…" Brother mumbled.

As we posed for the picture, I stood closer to Gippal. And he sneakily put an arm around my waist. I felt at home.

*

It had been months since I heard from him…

In Luca reports, I had heard that an alliance had been created called The Machine Faction. And automatically, I ran to Djose, where the reports said the place was. To my amazement, Gippal was there…

I tapped on his shoulder and he looked back to face me. I hugged him as hard as I could. "Gippal! I haven't heard anything from you forever!"

And his reply:

"Um… Sorry, I don't think I caught your name…"

And I felt like I wanted to die right then and there.

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A/N: Well… um. This is quite embarrassing. I haven't updated for such a long time. ^_^;;

And I am EXTREMELY sorry for that… You see, my grandpa's currently suffering from lung cancer, and I've been dedicating all my typing time to helping with the chores while my parents are visiting him in the hospital. But I just want to let you all know that I am extremely sorry.

Al Bhed Translations:

rinno ib ymnayto : Hurry up already!

Lyh'd damm oui. Dryd'c fryd y pmeht tyda'c vun : Can't tell you. That's what a blind date's for.

Fa'na rana: We're here.