A/N: Alright. Things start to pick up in this chapter, so instead of
telling you all. I'll just let you find out. ^^
****
{{ Chapter 2: Longing }}
"Rikku, we're leaving now," a gentle voice whispered in the darkness.
Turning herself over, she opened her eyes slowly and looked up to meet the faces of Yuna and Paine. They were both already dressed with their weapons hanging heavily on their waists.
"Hm, wha' time ish it?" Rikku's sleep-filled voice spoke groggily. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed.
"Just a little before dawn. The sun hasn't even come out yet," Yuna replied quietly.
"Oh. Well geez, guys. You sure wanna leave early, doncha?" Rikku said. She flopped back down on the bed.
Paine smiled, an action she was slowly starting to grow used to. The long time she had been spending with Yuna and Rikku was finally able to break her barriers. For once she wasn't afraid to show her lighter side-one that she had worked so hard to ignore.
"Going to sleep the day away?" Paine asked the girl jokingly.
Rikku suddenly sat up and pointed a finger at her friend. "Hey! I have things I need to do today too, y'know!"
Yuna turned to her cousin curiously. "Oh? What are you doing today, Rikku?"
The Al Bhed groaned inwardly. She had actually intended to take up Gippal's offer and visit him at the temple later that day. But for some reason Rikku felt hesitant in telling Yuna and Paine that. They must have seen the removed look on her face, but what was there to hide?
"Well I was actually going to go to the temple today. Gippal invited me over so I-" Rikku began.
"Really?" Yuna interrupted. Her eyes were suddenly very bright and interested in what Rikku was saying.
"Yeah...they need help taking apart the old machina there so I thought I'd help 'em out."
"Well give him my regards. I'd go over there myself, but we have bigger fish to fry," Paine suddenly said, directing her words towards Yuna.
"Oh, that's right! We're going to be late!" Yuna spoke as she stood from the bed quickly. Rikku's eyes followed her cousin up as she watched Yuna lace her boots quickly.
Paine turned to Rikku, causing the Al Bhed to wonder at her sudden seriousness.
"Listen, Rikku. This is the first time we've left you alone and-" Paine began, but was cut off by Rikku.
"Hey, I'm not a baby you know," the Al Bhed remarked with a roll of her eyes. She giggled at Paine, who shook her head in amusement.
"Well, I guess you aren't, huh?" Paine replied apologetically. She walked past Rikku, then stopped, her back still turned. "Care to start acting like it for once?" she said to Rikku with a quick wink of one ruby eye.
Yuna giggled as Rikku jumped off the bed and ran at Paine with a yell. The former summoner quickly placed herself between the two as Paine simply laughed at the Al Bhed.
"Paine, you said it yourself. We're already late!" Yuna tried to speak through Rikku's yelling and Paine's laughing.
"You're right," Paine chuckled softly. She reached over the ruffled the Al Bhed's hair. "You be careful."
Rikku stopped and watched as Yuna and Paine began to head out the doorway.
"Don't worry about me, girls. I'll be fine here. A week shouldn't be too long..." Rikku trailed off.
Yuna paused in mid-step and turned to face Rikku again. "I'm sure it shouldn't take that long. A few days maybe, and I'm guessing we'll be back then," Yuna explained. She turned and gave her cousin a quick hug before pulling away. "Take care of yourself."
Rikku smiled at her. "I will. You too," she added, looking over at Paine as well.
Rikku walked over to the door and watched as Paine and Yuna headed out towards the dock. She could see their ship waiting on the other side. Further out into the horizon, the first signs of sunrise could be seen, the orange beams peaking out from across the ocean. Yuna stopped to wave at Rikku one last time before walking up the ramp to their boat.
"Bye..." Rikku whispered after them with a short wave. She let her hand fall back down to her side again. Closing the door behind her, she wandered over to her bed and lay down.
Silence.
Here it was again. That same sense of loneliness she had been feeling. But it wasn't because Paine and Yuna had left her-no. This was something that Rikku couldn't quite understand. Lately she had felt as if there was just an portion of her life that was missing, and the sudden realization that she would be spending a week alone with no one else made this even clearer to her. Her heart felt heavy with the burden of having no one to call her own-no one to look forward to when she woke up in the morning...no one to make her smile brighter.
Rikku suddenly bolted up from the bed, her mouth opened slightly from the thought that had just crossed her mind. So that was it. She could hardly believe that was what had been bothering her all this time. She was lonely because of not being in love?
"But...why? It's never bothered me before..." Rikku spoke aloud to no one in particular. She lay back down and pulled one of her stuffed moogles to her chest, shutting her eyes in deep thought.
Even after accompanying Yuna in her pilgrimage and after their last mission with Vegnagun, Rikku could admit that she had watched everyone around her beginning to find someone they could call their own. Tidus had returned to Yuna in a tear-filled reunion that not even the fayth could prevent, and Lulu and Wakka were happy with their own family. Hell, even Nooj had shown signs of succumbing to his unspoken word of love.
There was something in the way it seemed as if time was passing her quietly by. People grew older, memories faded to the light of tomorrow, and hearts were being carried to love. Everyone had their own dreams and hopes- things in their lives that made them look forward to a new day. But Rikku- there was nothing like that for her.
She sighed to herself. As much as Rikku loved Yuna and Paine, she knew that they would eventually move on to bigger and more promising events in their own lives, and that she would be left behind. She knew that both of them would always be there for her, but perhaps there was something more out there-something more that could fill that other loneliness in her heart.
Setting aside the moogle, Rikku hauled herself up from the bed and let her feet touch the cold floor. No use spending the day thinking about these things. It was starting to depress her again.
"Hm, it looks like the sun is coming out now," Rikku spoke quietly to herself. Reaching over the bed, she pulled the curtains back as the soft orange glow of the sunrise greeted her warmly.
She turned and checked the time. It was a little past 7, and she could see a few villagers exiting their huts quietly, preparing to start the day. In the distance, Rikku could see an old man dragging his fishing pole out towards the docks. She looked back into the front room of their hut and began picking up the mess from the day before.
Hoo boy. It was going to be a long week.
***
As she put away the last potion that had been lying quite carelessly on the ground, Rikku let herself fall down on the couch in exhaustion. She looked around the now-clean room and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.
"Might as well go to the temple now," Rikku said aloud, her eyes glancing at the clock. She hoped that the temple would provide her with something to do, at least for today. With what Gippal had told her about the machina, Rikku hoped it would keep her busy.
Pulling her arm ribbons on, and securing the bandana around her head, she headed out the door and shut it tightly behind her.
The weather was soothingly warm as Rikku headed down the steps and turned towards Kilika Forest. Her boots against the wooden bridge were the sound in the still morning air as she crossed it and into the green wilderness.
Heading past the quiet area, Rikku began to see the faint outlines of the stone steps leading up to the temple. She began to pick up her pace a bit, beginning to sense the footsteps of a fiend behind her. Turning quickly to glance back, she saw that she was still alone.
As Rikku headed up the long series of stairs to the temple grounds, she frowned as the light silhouette of a person caught her eye. He was standing just at the top of the temple stairs, the morning sun casting a shadow behind him. Drawing closer to the person, she raised an eyebrow in surprise as Gippal suddenly turned around to face her.
"Ah, so you decided to show up. A bit early though, don't you think?"
Rikku walked up the last few steps and made her way over to him. "Yeah, but I had nothing else planned for today since Yuna and Paine left."
"Where'd they go off to?" Gippal asked her. He walked over to the edge of the temple steps and sat down, motioning for Rikku to join him.
She nodded shortly and sat down with him as well before speaking.
"They got a call from Tidus and Isaaru. Something about needing help at the Zanarkand Ruins," Rikku replied.
"Sounds serious," Gippal spoke. He turned his head so his good eye was looking at her.
"I hope they'll be ok..." Rikku trailed off. That feeling as if Paine and Yuna were walking right into trouble came back to her just then.
Gippal's voice interrupted her line of thought when he spoke up again.
"I'm sure it'll be alright. Paine won't let anything happen," he added with a wink. Gippal suddenly stood up, as Rikku's eyes followed him. "Well you up to it now?" he asked looking down at her.
Rikku blinked. "Hm?"
"The machina. We should get started on 'em. That's why you're here, right?" Gippal spoke. He smiled slowly.
"Oh, right!" Rikku exclaimed jumping up from her position on the stairs. He seemed to watch her carefully as she stood up.
"How's the leg?" he asked, his eyes eyeing the bandage.
"It's ok now. Still hurts a bit, but nothing like yesterday," Rikku replied as they started the walk up to the temple.
Kilika had grown quieter since the hostilities between the different factions died away. The machina that remained from the last skirmish was still present, and the people of Kilika wanted it taken away immediately. They didn't want to be reminded of that time when siding with one particular group had split families and caused them grief and worry.
They were beginning to near the temple entrance. Rikku watched as some of the Al Bhed who were disassembling the machina looked up to acknowledge Gippal momentarily before returning to their work. Others nodded their heads and smiled at him as Gippal and Rikku walked by.
"Just a few more, and we'll have this area done," Gippal announced confidently to the men, pausing briefly to inspect one of the stations.
The men didn't respond but nodded their heads hesitantly at their leader. Rikku noticed that some of them were regarding her with strange looks as she trailed behind Gippal into the temple.
As soon as they were out of hearing-range, Rikku nudged him gently. "Gippal, I can't help but notice that some of them aren't too happy to see me here..." she whispered to him quietly.
Gippal slowed their pace and lowered his head a bit so he could hear her better. "What do you mean?" he whispered back.
"I dunno...it just seems like they're all giving me strange...looks...or something," Rikku told him. She was feeling a bit foolish in telling him this.
Gippal looked up behind Rikku to the men who were working on the machina. They all quickly averted their eyes and returned back to work as soon as they saw Gippal's gaze on them.
"Lazy slackers..." Rikku heard Gippal mumble quietly. He turned to her and offered a short smile. "Forget about 'em. We gotta finish up inside."
Rikku nodded her head. "Right."
Gippal held the doorway open for her as Rikku stepped in. The first sight she noticed about the interior was that most of the machina she remembered from before had been cleared. There were only three of four large ones that were still waiting to be disassembled, but there weren't as many machina here as there were outside. She turned to face him curiously.
"Hey Gippal. I thought there were more in here."
"Yeah, but I took care of most of 'em yesterday," he simply replied, bending down to start on a larger-sized machina.
Rikku rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "So why aren't you helping your men out there, mister?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
He looked up from the machina he had begun working on. "The machina in here are more complicated than the ones out there," Gippal answered simply with a sideways smile.
"Are you saying that those guys can't handle these or something?" Rikku asked, taken aback by what he said.
Gippal laughed suddenly, setting down one machina part next to his boot. He met her gaze, still half-chuckling. "Like I said, Rikku. You're always good for a laugh."
She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed, moving over and hitting him none-too-gently on the arm. Gippal looked up at her, shock written clearly across face.
"You're a big meanie," Rikku said, crossing her arms at him. She didn't know of what else to call him.
"So are you gonna help me?" Gippal asked her. Rikku noticed that he seemed to soften his voice this time so that he was asking her nicely. It actually made her smile a bit.
Rikku shook her head at him in amusement and sat down next to the other large machina across from him. "Alright, but you watch out," she giggled at him.
"Watch out for what?" Gippal questioned.
It was Rikku's turn to wink at him. "I can take these things apart faster than anyone," she declared.
"That so?" Gippal asked. He stood up and dusted his hands off. "How about a race then. There's three machina left here. First one to take apart two wins."
Rikku jumped up and jabbed a finger at his chest in time with her words. "You're on."
Gippal smiled down at her, his eye gleaming in the dimly lit area. "Ready, go!" he suddenly exclaimed, dropping back down to his position next to his machina.
"Hey! That's not fair! You're already halfway done with that one!" Rikku yelled at him.
He laughed. "Better hurry! I only have one and a half left to go."
Rikku didn't speak any more as she scrambled to the machina she left earlier. Her eyes quickly scanned the assembly and instantly recognized the arrangement of parts as a level three version. Simple. She knew how to take this level apart when she was seven years old. Its large size was only an illusion of how simple the model really was.
Quickly taking apart the smaller components, Rikku suddenly started to see the core coming into view. The parts were relatively easy to remove, and she soon finished the first machina, dropping the core section with a soft clang. Gippal looked up at her this time.
"One down. One left," Rikku declared with a slight grin. She saw that he was just wrapping up his work on the machina he had been working on even before their little race had begun.
Gippal's eyes widened as she headed over to her last one. "A-Already?" he managed to utter in his disbelief.
Rikku grinned and nodded once at him before bending down to work on the last machina. She glanced up at Gippal once more, and she saw that he had just finished his and had dashed to the machina on his left.
"It's not over yet," Gippal said to her and began to work on his parts.
Not wasting any more time, Rikku looked at the machina in front of her. This one was a little more complicated than the last. It had limbs going in all directions and some intersected with each other so one could not be removed without first loosening the other. No matter, she knew that she couldn't let Gippal win. Not today.
Grasping the smallest part, Rikku quickly loosened it and the larger portion of the machina's body began to wiggle. She could hear Gippal setting aside his parts as well. From the increasing loudness of the sounds his parts were making, Rikku could tell that he was almost done as well. Her experience with disassembling machina had enabled her to hear how far a person was with the job just by the sound of the parts as it hit the ground. The louder the sound the part made as it was set aside, the closer the person got to the core.
As soon as the opening between the body and the leg was large enough, Rikku pulled it out quickly and she knew that victory was hers. With the main portion of the machina removed, the other pieces would come off easily. Rikku smiled inwardly to herself. She glanced up at Gippal. He was working hard on his machine, never looking up at her.
Rikku toyed with an idea in her mind. What if she let Gippal win this? She looked up at him again. He was locked in the heated battle of taking off the main body of his machina. He was almost done, but not like she was. True, he had annoyed her with his constant remarks of calling her "Cid's girl" or saying what a "good laugh" she was. Maybe it was her turn to laugh at him. But then again...
She sat idly, moving her hands here and there, clinking parts together and making it seem as if she was still working. Rikku saw Gippal glance up at her momentarily before resuming his own work.
Five minutes passed. She said nothing. He said nothing, but she could hear that he was still working because his parts were clinking. She was clinking her parts too.
Another two minutes went by. Rikku couldn't help but wonder what the hell was taking him so long. He suddenly looked up to meet her gaze.
"Not done yet, eh?"
"I could say the same to you," Rikku replied smoothly.
He seemed to falter with his words. "It's uh, taking longer than usual. Nothing I can't handle."
Rikku looked down at her parts. The last limb was already detached. It was hanging loosely from the main body of the machina, waiting to be removed so the entire job could be finished. Her green eyes trailed over to Gippal's area and her mouth dropped open slightly.
Looking closely, she could see that his machina had been ready to come apart any minute. Like her, one limb of the machina was hanging loosely, ready to be taken out. Rikku eyed him suspiciously. She saw him glance up at her this time.
"Are you done?" she asked him, beginning to stand from her position on the cold ground.
He stood up as well, walking over to examine her site. His eye regarded the wayward limb hanging loosely. "Well, what do you know. It seems like we have ourselves a stalemate here, eh?" Gippal spoke up. He raised a hand to ruffle her hair.
Rikku gaped at him. "Hey!" she said and promptly reached up to set her hair back in place.
He walked over to the doorway and pulled the heavy doors open. Sunlight rushed into the temple, chasing the dimness away. Rikku struggled to focus her eyes from the sudden change in light.
"I'm starved. You coming?" Gippal offered suddenly, beginning to walk out the door.
It took Rikku a moment to hear what he had asked. Her mind was elsewhere.
"Oh, right! Coming!" she said, jogging over towards him.
She brushed off the fact that Gippal had completely avoided the competition they had and how it ended. She laughed a bit out loud.
Even to her, Rikku knew that Gippal could have easily won their little battle almost as much as she could have. It was as if he was giving her the chance to win too. But then again, she had planned to let him win as well.
She smiled at the silliness of the thought and stepped out into the sunlight, jogging up to meet up with him.
****
A/N: This coupling is so fun and interesting to write about. ^_^ Chapter 3 coming soon. Oooh. I have a lot of things planned for that one!
****
{{ Chapter 2: Longing }}
"Rikku, we're leaving now," a gentle voice whispered in the darkness.
Turning herself over, she opened her eyes slowly and looked up to meet the faces of Yuna and Paine. They were both already dressed with their weapons hanging heavily on their waists.
"Hm, wha' time ish it?" Rikku's sleep-filled voice spoke groggily. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed.
"Just a little before dawn. The sun hasn't even come out yet," Yuna replied quietly.
"Oh. Well geez, guys. You sure wanna leave early, doncha?" Rikku said. She flopped back down on the bed.
Paine smiled, an action she was slowly starting to grow used to. The long time she had been spending with Yuna and Rikku was finally able to break her barriers. For once she wasn't afraid to show her lighter side-one that she had worked so hard to ignore.
"Going to sleep the day away?" Paine asked the girl jokingly.
Rikku suddenly sat up and pointed a finger at her friend. "Hey! I have things I need to do today too, y'know!"
Yuna turned to her cousin curiously. "Oh? What are you doing today, Rikku?"
The Al Bhed groaned inwardly. She had actually intended to take up Gippal's offer and visit him at the temple later that day. But for some reason Rikku felt hesitant in telling Yuna and Paine that. They must have seen the removed look on her face, but what was there to hide?
"Well I was actually going to go to the temple today. Gippal invited me over so I-" Rikku began.
"Really?" Yuna interrupted. Her eyes were suddenly very bright and interested in what Rikku was saying.
"Yeah...they need help taking apart the old machina there so I thought I'd help 'em out."
"Well give him my regards. I'd go over there myself, but we have bigger fish to fry," Paine suddenly said, directing her words towards Yuna.
"Oh, that's right! We're going to be late!" Yuna spoke as she stood from the bed quickly. Rikku's eyes followed her cousin up as she watched Yuna lace her boots quickly.
Paine turned to Rikku, causing the Al Bhed to wonder at her sudden seriousness.
"Listen, Rikku. This is the first time we've left you alone and-" Paine began, but was cut off by Rikku.
"Hey, I'm not a baby you know," the Al Bhed remarked with a roll of her eyes. She giggled at Paine, who shook her head in amusement.
"Well, I guess you aren't, huh?" Paine replied apologetically. She walked past Rikku, then stopped, her back still turned. "Care to start acting like it for once?" she said to Rikku with a quick wink of one ruby eye.
Yuna giggled as Rikku jumped off the bed and ran at Paine with a yell. The former summoner quickly placed herself between the two as Paine simply laughed at the Al Bhed.
"Paine, you said it yourself. We're already late!" Yuna tried to speak through Rikku's yelling and Paine's laughing.
"You're right," Paine chuckled softly. She reached over the ruffled the Al Bhed's hair. "You be careful."
Rikku stopped and watched as Yuna and Paine began to head out the doorway.
"Don't worry about me, girls. I'll be fine here. A week shouldn't be too long..." Rikku trailed off.
Yuna paused in mid-step and turned to face Rikku again. "I'm sure it shouldn't take that long. A few days maybe, and I'm guessing we'll be back then," Yuna explained. She turned and gave her cousin a quick hug before pulling away. "Take care of yourself."
Rikku smiled at her. "I will. You too," she added, looking over at Paine as well.
Rikku walked over to the door and watched as Paine and Yuna headed out towards the dock. She could see their ship waiting on the other side. Further out into the horizon, the first signs of sunrise could be seen, the orange beams peaking out from across the ocean. Yuna stopped to wave at Rikku one last time before walking up the ramp to their boat.
"Bye..." Rikku whispered after them with a short wave. She let her hand fall back down to her side again. Closing the door behind her, she wandered over to her bed and lay down.
Silence.
Here it was again. That same sense of loneliness she had been feeling. But it wasn't because Paine and Yuna had left her-no. This was something that Rikku couldn't quite understand. Lately she had felt as if there was just an portion of her life that was missing, and the sudden realization that she would be spending a week alone with no one else made this even clearer to her. Her heart felt heavy with the burden of having no one to call her own-no one to look forward to when she woke up in the morning...no one to make her smile brighter.
Rikku suddenly bolted up from the bed, her mouth opened slightly from the thought that had just crossed her mind. So that was it. She could hardly believe that was what had been bothering her all this time. She was lonely because of not being in love?
"But...why? It's never bothered me before..." Rikku spoke aloud to no one in particular. She lay back down and pulled one of her stuffed moogles to her chest, shutting her eyes in deep thought.
Even after accompanying Yuna in her pilgrimage and after their last mission with Vegnagun, Rikku could admit that she had watched everyone around her beginning to find someone they could call their own. Tidus had returned to Yuna in a tear-filled reunion that not even the fayth could prevent, and Lulu and Wakka were happy with their own family. Hell, even Nooj had shown signs of succumbing to his unspoken word of love.
There was something in the way it seemed as if time was passing her quietly by. People grew older, memories faded to the light of tomorrow, and hearts were being carried to love. Everyone had their own dreams and hopes- things in their lives that made them look forward to a new day. But Rikku- there was nothing like that for her.
She sighed to herself. As much as Rikku loved Yuna and Paine, she knew that they would eventually move on to bigger and more promising events in their own lives, and that she would be left behind. She knew that both of them would always be there for her, but perhaps there was something more out there-something more that could fill that other loneliness in her heart.
Setting aside the moogle, Rikku hauled herself up from the bed and let her feet touch the cold floor. No use spending the day thinking about these things. It was starting to depress her again.
"Hm, it looks like the sun is coming out now," Rikku spoke quietly to herself. Reaching over the bed, she pulled the curtains back as the soft orange glow of the sunrise greeted her warmly.
She turned and checked the time. It was a little past 7, and she could see a few villagers exiting their huts quietly, preparing to start the day. In the distance, Rikku could see an old man dragging his fishing pole out towards the docks. She looked back into the front room of their hut and began picking up the mess from the day before.
Hoo boy. It was going to be a long week.
***
As she put away the last potion that had been lying quite carelessly on the ground, Rikku let herself fall down on the couch in exhaustion. She looked around the now-clean room and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.
"Might as well go to the temple now," Rikku said aloud, her eyes glancing at the clock. She hoped that the temple would provide her with something to do, at least for today. With what Gippal had told her about the machina, Rikku hoped it would keep her busy.
Pulling her arm ribbons on, and securing the bandana around her head, she headed out the door and shut it tightly behind her.
The weather was soothingly warm as Rikku headed down the steps and turned towards Kilika Forest. Her boots against the wooden bridge were the sound in the still morning air as she crossed it and into the green wilderness.
Heading past the quiet area, Rikku began to see the faint outlines of the stone steps leading up to the temple. She began to pick up her pace a bit, beginning to sense the footsteps of a fiend behind her. Turning quickly to glance back, she saw that she was still alone.
As Rikku headed up the long series of stairs to the temple grounds, she frowned as the light silhouette of a person caught her eye. He was standing just at the top of the temple stairs, the morning sun casting a shadow behind him. Drawing closer to the person, she raised an eyebrow in surprise as Gippal suddenly turned around to face her.
"Ah, so you decided to show up. A bit early though, don't you think?"
Rikku walked up the last few steps and made her way over to him. "Yeah, but I had nothing else planned for today since Yuna and Paine left."
"Where'd they go off to?" Gippal asked her. He walked over to the edge of the temple steps and sat down, motioning for Rikku to join him.
She nodded shortly and sat down with him as well before speaking.
"They got a call from Tidus and Isaaru. Something about needing help at the Zanarkand Ruins," Rikku replied.
"Sounds serious," Gippal spoke. He turned his head so his good eye was looking at her.
"I hope they'll be ok..." Rikku trailed off. That feeling as if Paine and Yuna were walking right into trouble came back to her just then.
Gippal's voice interrupted her line of thought when he spoke up again.
"I'm sure it'll be alright. Paine won't let anything happen," he added with a wink. Gippal suddenly stood up, as Rikku's eyes followed him. "Well you up to it now?" he asked looking down at her.
Rikku blinked. "Hm?"
"The machina. We should get started on 'em. That's why you're here, right?" Gippal spoke. He smiled slowly.
"Oh, right!" Rikku exclaimed jumping up from her position on the stairs. He seemed to watch her carefully as she stood up.
"How's the leg?" he asked, his eyes eyeing the bandage.
"It's ok now. Still hurts a bit, but nothing like yesterday," Rikku replied as they started the walk up to the temple.
Kilika had grown quieter since the hostilities between the different factions died away. The machina that remained from the last skirmish was still present, and the people of Kilika wanted it taken away immediately. They didn't want to be reminded of that time when siding with one particular group had split families and caused them grief and worry.
They were beginning to near the temple entrance. Rikku watched as some of the Al Bhed who were disassembling the machina looked up to acknowledge Gippal momentarily before returning to their work. Others nodded their heads and smiled at him as Gippal and Rikku walked by.
"Just a few more, and we'll have this area done," Gippal announced confidently to the men, pausing briefly to inspect one of the stations.
The men didn't respond but nodded their heads hesitantly at their leader. Rikku noticed that some of them were regarding her with strange looks as she trailed behind Gippal into the temple.
As soon as they were out of hearing-range, Rikku nudged him gently. "Gippal, I can't help but notice that some of them aren't too happy to see me here..." she whispered to him quietly.
Gippal slowed their pace and lowered his head a bit so he could hear her better. "What do you mean?" he whispered back.
"I dunno...it just seems like they're all giving me strange...looks...or something," Rikku told him. She was feeling a bit foolish in telling him this.
Gippal looked up behind Rikku to the men who were working on the machina. They all quickly averted their eyes and returned back to work as soon as they saw Gippal's gaze on them.
"Lazy slackers..." Rikku heard Gippal mumble quietly. He turned to her and offered a short smile. "Forget about 'em. We gotta finish up inside."
Rikku nodded her head. "Right."
Gippal held the doorway open for her as Rikku stepped in. The first sight she noticed about the interior was that most of the machina she remembered from before had been cleared. There were only three of four large ones that were still waiting to be disassembled, but there weren't as many machina here as there were outside. She turned to face him curiously.
"Hey Gippal. I thought there were more in here."
"Yeah, but I took care of most of 'em yesterday," he simply replied, bending down to start on a larger-sized machina.
Rikku rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "So why aren't you helping your men out there, mister?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
He looked up from the machina he had begun working on. "The machina in here are more complicated than the ones out there," Gippal answered simply with a sideways smile.
"Are you saying that those guys can't handle these or something?" Rikku asked, taken aback by what he said.
Gippal laughed suddenly, setting down one machina part next to his boot. He met her gaze, still half-chuckling. "Like I said, Rikku. You're always good for a laugh."
She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed, moving over and hitting him none-too-gently on the arm. Gippal looked up at her, shock written clearly across face.
"You're a big meanie," Rikku said, crossing her arms at him. She didn't know of what else to call him.
"So are you gonna help me?" Gippal asked her. Rikku noticed that he seemed to soften his voice this time so that he was asking her nicely. It actually made her smile a bit.
Rikku shook her head at him in amusement and sat down next to the other large machina across from him. "Alright, but you watch out," she giggled at him.
"Watch out for what?" Gippal questioned.
It was Rikku's turn to wink at him. "I can take these things apart faster than anyone," she declared.
"That so?" Gippal asked. He stood up and dusted his hands off. "How about a race then. There's three machina left here. First one to take apart two wins."
Rikku jumped up and jabbed a finger at his chest in time with her words. "You're on."
Gippal smiled down at her, his eye gleaming in the dimly lit area. "Ready, go!" he suddenly exclaimed, dropping back down to his position next to his machina.
"Hey! That's not fair! You're already halfway done with that one!" Rikku yelled at him.
He laughed. "Better hurry! I only have one and a half left to go."
Rikku didn't speak any more as she scrambled to the machina she left earlier. Her eyes quickly scanned the assembly and instantly recognized the arrangement of parts as a level three version. Simple. She knew how to take this level apart when she was seven years old. Its large size was only an illusion of how simple the model really was.
Quickly taking apart the smaller components, Rikku suddenly started to see the core coming into view. The parts were relatively easy to remove, and she soon finished the first machina, dropping the core section with a soft clang. Gippal looked up at her this time.
"One down. One left," Rikku declared with a slight grin. She saw that he was just wrapping up his work on the machina he had been working on even before their little race had begun.
Gippal's eyes widened as she headed over to her last one. "A-Already?" he managed to utter in his disbelief.
Rikku grinned and nodded once at him before bending down to work on the last machina. She glanced up at Gippal once more, and she saw that he had just finished his and had dashed to the machina on his left.
"It's not over yet," Gippal said to her and began to work on his parts.
Not wasting any more time, Rikku looked at the machina in front of her. This one was a little more complicated than the last. It had limbs going in all directions and some intersected with each other so one could not be removed without first loosening the other. No matter, she knew that she couldn't let Gippal win. Not today.
Grasping the smallest part, Rikku quickly loosened it and the larger portion of the machina's body began to wiggle. She could hear Gippal setting aside his parts as well. From the increasing loudness of the sounds his parts were making, Rikku could tell that he was almost done as well. Her experience with disassembling machina had enabled her to hear how far a person was with the job just by the sound of the parts as it hit the ground. The louder the sound the part made as it was set aside, the closer the person got to the core.
As soon as the opening between the body and the leg was large enough, Rikku pulled it out quickly and she knew that victory was hers. With the main portion of the machina removed, the other pieces would come off easily. Rikku smiled inwardly to herself. She glanced up at Gippal. He was working hard on his machine, never looking up at her.
Rikku toyed with an idea in her mind. What if she let Gippal win this? She looked up at him again. He was locked in the heated battle of taking off the main body of his machina. He was almost done, but not like she was. True, he had annoyed her with his constant remarks of calling her "Cid's girl" or saying what a "good laugh" she was. Maybe it was her turn to laugh at him. But then again...
She sat idly, moving her hands here and there, clinking parts together and making it seem as if she was still working. Rikku saw Gippal glance up at her momentarily before resuming his own work.
Five minutes passed. She said nothing. He said nothing, but she could hear that he was still working because his parts were clinking. She was clinking her parts too.
Another two minutes went by. Rikku couldn't help but wonder what the hell was taking him so long. He suddenly looked up to meet her gaze.
"Not done yet, eh?"
"I could say the same to you," Rikku replied smoothly.
He seemed to falter with his words. "It's uh, taking longer than usual. Nothing I can't handle."
Rikku looked down at her parts. The last limb was already detached. It was hanging loosely from the main body of the machina, waiting to be removed so the entire job could be finished. Her green eyes trailed over to Gippal's area and her mouth dropped open slightly.
Looking closely, she could see that his machina had been ready to come apart any minute. Like her, one limb of the machina was hanging loosely, ready to be taken out. Rikku eyed him suspiciously. She saw him glance up at her this time.
"Are you done?" she asked him, beginning to stand from her position on the cold ground.
He stood up as well, walking over to examine her site. His eye regarded the wayward limb hanging loosely. "Well, what do you know. It seems like we have ourselves a stalemate here, eh?" Gippal spoke up. He raised a hand to ruffle her hair.
Rikku gaped at him. "Hey!" she said and promptly reached up to set her hair back in place.
He walked over to the doorway and pulled the heavy doors open. Sunlight rushed into the temple, chasing the dimness away. Rikku struggled to focus her eyes from the sudden change in light.
"I'm starved. You coming?" Gippal offered suddenly, beginning to walk out the door.
It took Rikku a moment to hear what he had asked. Her mind was elsewhere.
"Oh, right! Coming!" she said, jogging over towards him.
She brushed off the fact that Gippal had completely avoided the competition they had and how it ended. She laughed a bit out loud.
Even to her, Rikku knew that Gippal could have easily won their little battle almost as much as she could have. It was as if he was giving her the chance to win too. But then again, she had planned to let him win as well.
She smiled at the silliness of the thought and stepped out into the sunlight, jogging up to meet up with him.
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A/N: This coupling is so fun and interesting to write about. ^_^ Chapter 3 coming soon. Oooh. I have a lot of things planned for that one!