A/N: I'm so glad to finally be on Chapter 6. I've been thinking of the plot
for this story for a few days now, and I think I know where I want to take
it from here. There were also the little moments between Gippal and Rikku
that I have planned carefully, so I'm actually rather excited to write this
chapter. XD
***
{{ Chapter 6: Prelude to a Dream }}
***
The sun was just barely visible in the early twilight, its golden rays fading quickly behind the first signs of night. Rikku reached up to brush away a long strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes. She quickened her pace a bit so that she was just walking next to Gippal. He turned to look at her as she approached and smiled gently.
Up ahead, Rikku could see a rather large cluster of small white birds sitting quietly in their path. They moved about here and there, pecking at the ground for any traces of food that may have been lying around. All was quiet on the Moonflow path until they approached, a small twig cracking under one of Gippal's boots. As she walked next to him along the pathway, the birds suddenly flew up, white wings flapping into the air and clearing the area as they passed.
"A lot of birds here, huh?" Gippal suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen between them previously. He had his head tilted up towards the sky where the birds had flown up to. He had also stopped walking.
Rikku moved her eyes to him. Orange-yellow beams of light shone down upon his face, making his one visible eye twinkle in the early sunset.
"Yeah, you don't usually see this many in the Moonflow..." Rikku trailed off quietly. She stopped next to his side and looked up into the sky as well, her green eyes taking in the brilliant fiery reds and oranges of the early evening sky.
Gippal felt his eyes moving down from the sky to settle on Rikku. He sighed in relief to himself that his good eye was facing her. Taking advantage of the moment, he found himself glancing at her, the sight of her new appearance still not sinking in for him. Catching himself for realizing that a small pang of something he couldn't quite place a finger on had just crossed his conscience, Gippal moved his gaze away from her.
Rikku turned to face him, sensing his uneasiness.
"Something wrong, Gippal?"
He paused, hoping she hadn't caught him staring at her earlier. "U-uh, nothing." He cleared his throat and raised a hand to shield his eye from the bright sunset to their right, squinting to look down the pathway from where they had just come from.
"Hey, where'd Serru go?" Gippal asked suddenly, realizing that their other companion was presently not with them.
Rikku turned around as well. She chose not to say anything in response to what he had just said. Serru. From the moment she had first met him, Rikku noticed herself feeling strange when in his presence. Perhaps it was because of his deep green eyes and the way they always regarded her whenever he was in the same room, but Rikku just didn't feel quite right about him. There was something off about Serru...and she didn't know what it might have been.
"Well finally, there he is," Gippal's voice cut through her thoughts. She looked up, the gentle breeze causing her to raise a hand to push away her hair.
Serru came walking down the pathway towards them, his arms carrying the tents and bags from the airship. Rikku could see the outlines of his hair and strong jaw, the sunset illuminating his silhouette. She quickly began to feel uneasy at the sight of him and averted her gaze, moving them to look down at her boots.
"My apologies, sir. I dropped some of the bags and had to pick everything up again," Serru began with an even tone as he stopped in front of them. He paused slightly at seeing Rikku standing next to Gippal. His green eyes swept over her quickly before moving his gaze away. Rikku managed to catch him smirk right when she had looked up. She frowned in confusion.
"Rikku, what's the matter? You don't look too good..." Gippal said gently, not noticing what had just happened between Serru and Rikku. He reached up and turned her face towards his, and he froze, realizing what he had just done.
Rikku froze at the feeling of his warm fingers on her skin. Her face now tilted towards him, she shook her head and grinned awkwardly.
"Nope, nothing's wrong," she replied in hesitation.
Gippal looked her over one last time before shrugging and chuckling a bit. "You're a strange one, Rikku," he laughed good-naturedly.
Serru looked back and forth between them, feeling his jaw clench. He cleared his throat and the two promptly turned their attention to him.
"We should set up camp, sir. It's getting dark," he told Gippal.
"Oh, right. Here, let me get some of that," Gippal responded. He reached to take one of the bags and tents Serru had in one hand and started up the pathway again.
Rikku watched as Gippal started moving ahead before following after him, with Serru right behind her.
***
Yuna felt her lungs growing heavy as she ran after Paine. Smoke encircled the entire pathway up to the Zanarkand Dome, leaving no room for light to leak through. Her eyes struggled to look down at her feet, making sure she wasn't going to trip on anything as she ran blindly through the thick and heavy smoke.
"Paine!! Slow down! I can't see anything in here..." Yuna yelled desperately. She coughed.
"Yuna! Over here!" Paine's voice cut through from one side.
She stopped running and turned to her right where Paine's voice had just come from. Yes. It was that way.
"I'm coming, Paine!"
***
They had chosen a clearing within the forest that separated the Moonflow and Guadosalam. It was a nice area, the tall trees up above opening up into the night sky and allowing the bright moonlight to provide enough light. Serru had started a small fire, the soft crackling of the flames being the only sounds in the woods.
Gippal suddenly paused in confusion, raising a hand to run through his hair. He scanned the grounds, still not finding the item he was looking for.
"Um, Serru?"
"Sir?" Serru asked from his position next to the fire. His green eyes landed on Gippal.
"Aren't there supposed to be three tents? Where's the third one? We only have two up right now..." Gippal trailed off, his eye still scanning the area. Rikku watched on in confusion, setting aside her weapon. She stood and lifted up one of the bags next to her, seeing if the missing tent was there. None.
Serru looked around the area and smiled nervously. "I uh, I guess I forgot to get a third tent..."
Gippal raised an eyebrow at Serru's carelessness and sighed. He smiled weakly, sensing the nervous tone in Serru's voice. "No use in getting worked up over it now, huh? The airship's long gone."
"My deepest apologies, sir," Serru spoke quietly, not looking up.
Rikku walked over to where Gippal was sitting. "But wait, there's three of us. How're we all goin' to sleep tonight?" she asked and immediately wished she hadn't opened her mouth, already knowing what the answer would be.
Gippal looked up at Rikku who was standing above him. He saw the look of hesitation on her face as he chewed over what she had just said.
Serru stood up. "The lady must have one tent, of course," he spoke up, motioning to the tent nearest him.
Rikku looked over at Gippal who returned her gaze.
"And you may take the other one, sir. After all, it was my fault that we don't have enough tents..." Serru continued rather slowly, as if regretting his words.
"Nah, you take it, Serru. I'll stay out here and keep watch. I used to do this kind of stuff all the time back in the Crimson Squad days..." Gippal said as he stood up, moving the bags out and away from the fire. He walked by Rikku and she locked eyes with his for a brief moment before looking away.
"But Gippal, it'll get cold out here and—"
"S'ok, Rikku. Don't worry 'bout me," he responded quickly with a wave of one hand. Gippal smiled at her. "It's getting late. You sure you're not tired?" he asked coolly with a crooked smile.
"Nope!" Rikku retorted sharply, his smart-ass attitude returning from earlier that day. She knew he was teasing her, but it was still annoying nonetheless.
"I thank you, sir. Tomorrow I'll be on watch so you can sleep inside the tent," Serru spoke up from the other side of the fire. Rikku watched as he stood up. "I'm sorry to retire so early, but I really am exhausted."
Gippal turned around to face him. "Oh, yeah. No problem."
"Goodnight then, sir..." Serru began. He turned to Rikku. "Goodnight, my lady," he finished, his voice a little lower than before.
Rikku met his gaze with hesitation but forced herself to respond nonetheless. "Oh, g-goodnight," she stuttered.
With that, Serru stood and opened the flap of the large tent before stepping inside, zipping the entrance securely.
"You're not tired?" Gippal suddenly asked when Serru had left. He was sitting next to the fire with his arms around his knees.
Walking over to center of the clearing, Rikku sat herself down next to him, still a good distance across from where he was. She stared ahead at the fire, the soft crackling sounds providing a soothing effect on her.
"Gippal, I um..." Rikku began slowly.
He looked up from the fire to meet her expression. It seemed as if something was troubling her, but she was unwilling to talk about it.
"What's the matter?"
Rikku shifted uncomfortably and leaned to the opposite side she was facing, legs folded to the side of herself. Gippal saw her green eyes dart quickly up towards the direction of Serru's tent before responding to his question. He frowned at this.
"It's um, about Serru..." she began again, regretting this whole thing. He seemed to lean towards her as if caught off guard from what she had said.
"Serru?"
She looked up at his tent again, hoping that they were speaking soft enough so that Serru wouldn't hear.
"I dunno. I guess I just feel...weird when he's around..." Rikku said quietly as she raised her eyes to meet Gippal's. She hoped he wouldn't think she was odd for bringing a topic like this up, but Rikku felt comfortable when she had her conversations with Gippal, so there was no need to fear what he would say and—
"Oh, I get it," he interrupted suddenly. Rikku looked up in time to see a sly smile on his face. "You like him or somethin' Rikku?" Gippal asked.
She felt her mouth drop open in shock and she stood up, fuming. "WHAT?!"
He met her gaze, not a smile evident on his face. She decided to sit back down again, trying to compose herself.
"Gippal, I didn't say that. I said that he...gives me the creeps," Rikku explained, her voice lowering to almost a whisper at her last sentence. She looked at his face through the fire and sighed. "Nevermind."
Gippal paused, his mouth set into a firm line. He looked down at his fist in surprise, not noticing that it had been clenched the entire time. Turning his face away from her eyes, he sighed softly. He couldn't lie to himself. When Rikku had mentioned Serru, he automatically assumed that she was interested in the younger Al Bhed. Serru was seventeen years old, the same age Rikku was. Even if Gippal was only less than a year older than Rikku, he couldn't help but realize that he felt—
He froze at the thought. Right when Rikku had spoken about Serru, Gippal felt something race through him, making his blood boil at the sound of Rikku speaking about Serru. He was jealous.
Jealous?
Gippal looked up at her. She was looking down at her boots, a serious expression on her face. He knew he had teased her earlier, but that was only to cover up his own jealously. He almost laughed at the thought of getting jealous so easily.
"It's late, Rikku. We should go to sleep now," Gippal said suddenly, keeping his voice low.
She looked at him. "Oh, right. We should."
He stood up and offered her a smile, carrying a hint of apology. "Forget about what I said earlier. Don't worry about Serru...he can be a bit strange but—"
"It's okay, Gippal. Just forget what I said too," Rikku said.
He nodded once and looked at the tent on the other side of the clearing. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then. 'Night."
Rikku smiled gently and began to walk in the direction of her tent. She tossed a glance back at where Gippal began to lay down and mentally cursed Serru for forgetting the third tent. Because of his carelessness, Gippal had to sleep outside that night.
A wild thought suddenly came to her, and it made her frown in disapproval with herself for even thinking it. Never. There was no way she could even dream of letting Gippal share a tent with her. He would probably think she was being too forward. She shook her head. 'You're such a dummy, Rikku,' she told herself.
Stepping into the rather spacious confines of her tent, Rikku took one more look at the outside. Gippal was sleeping just a few feet outside her tent, his blonde hair visible under the moonlight. He had put the fire out and the campsite was now dim and quiet.
She zipped up her tent, leaving a small opening in the flap so she could still see outside to where Gippal was, in case something were to happen. Rikku groaned at her pessimistic side. She was always thinking negatively. Snapping off her belt and kicking off her boots, Rikku let herself burrow down within the blankets and closed her eyes in the darkness, forcing herself to sleep. Her body was comfortable all around, soft and snug blankets cradling her. But she found herself worrying about Gippal. While she was in here, enjoying the warmth, he was out there battling the cold.
She suddenly stood up and threw her blankets off, unable to shake off that feeling tugging at the edge of her consciousness. Unzipping the flap of the tent, she tiptoed to where Gippal was sleeping and bent down next to him. Raising a hesitant hand to rest on his shoulder, she gently shook him.
He slowly cracked his good eye open and suddenly stood up in alarm. "What's wrong? Something happen?" Gippal promptly asked, searching her face for any sign of trouble.
She raised a finger to her lips and shook her head. "Sshh. Nothing's wrong."
He stared back at her with confusion evident in his eye, the moonlight from up above casting a glow over his black eye patch. Sitting up on one elbow, Gippal sent her a soft grin, raising one eyebrow as he did so.
"Well if nothing's wrong, then why are you here?" he asked in a whisper, a light smile on his face.
Rikku paused, realizing that even she didn't know why she was out there in the middle of night shaking Gippal awake. She suddenly realized that her hand was still on his shoulder from when she first shook him awake. Her green eyes trailed up to his face. His gaze was on her hand as well.
She fought off a blush from her embarrassment and pulled her hand away. He raised his eye to her.
"I um...well, aren't you cold out here?" Rikku managed to ask hesitantly.
Gippal met her gaze seriously, his one good eye clear and sparkling under the moonlight. He seemed to collect his thoughts before replying.
"So you came back out here 'cause you were worried about me?" he finally asked, bringing himself up in a sitting position so they were both facing each other on the ground.
Rikku froze, realizing the answer he was now expecting her to say. She kept her green eyes on her hands, avoiding his gaze.
"Well it's cold out here, and I was worried and there's a lot of room in my tent and I..." Rikku began quickly, her words jamming together as she spoke. She moved her eyes back to Gippal. He was staring back at her seriously. "You know what, I um...nevermind," she said again, already standing up.
Gippal's eyes followed her form as she stood up. The cool breeze began to blow, reminding him that this was indeed not the type of weather he could handle. Trying to make sense of the whole situation, he stood as well, running a hand through his hair quickly.
"Wait."
Rikku stopped in her steps. 'Oh great, I just made a complete dummy out of myself and now he's gonna make fun of me,' she thought to herself. Turning around to face Gippal, she could barely see the expression on his face through the darkness.
"You're right...I uh, really can't stand this type of weather," he began in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head with one hand.
"Oh..." Rikku replied, realizing what he was trying to say.
"It uh, might not be right for us to sleep in the same tent but, uh...I grew up in the desert so this type of weather ain't really what I'm used to and uh..." Gippal continued to explain. He met her gaze with an expression of embarrassment.
"You might get sick...?" Rikku offered.
He laughed quietly. "Yeah..."
Rikku found herself smiling at that, but suddenly stopped as a fierce gust of cold wind suddenly picked up, causing her long hair to ruffle about wildly. She looked back at him. He had his arms crossed across his chest, trying to keep warm. This wasn't something Rikku could stand seeing others experience. She needed to help him.
"Alright then. Let's get some sleep," she suddenly said brightly, her voice just barely above a whisper. He seemed to look very grateful at her words.
Leading them back to the tent, she found him holding the flap open for her as she stepped in first. Gippal entered shortly behind her, his one eye sweeping over the floor quickly. There really was enough space in there for two people.
He watched as Rikku bent down and began moving blankets about, setting aside a heavy blanket for him.
"Listen Rikku, this really means a lot to me, but I can't help but feel as if—"
"I know what you're gonna say Gippal, but do you really wanna get sick out there? You're our leader y'know," she cut him off, her back still to him as she found one pillow for him and threw it at his face, catching him off guard.
Gippal gaped at her. "Hey, what was that for?" he asked with a light chuckle. He suddenly felt himself loosening up and lowered his tired body down on the blankets next to her. She was smiling at him.
"Goodnight then, Gippal," Rikku simply said to him as she moved over to her side of the tent and pulled the blanket up and over herself, her back facing him.
He couldn't help but smile at the way she deliberately ignored his question. Nevertheless, he felt his body telling his mind that it was time to get some rest. It was nearly midnight.
Carefully moving himself under the blanket Rikku had given him, he scooted as far as he could to his side. Glancing at the space between him and Rikku, Gippal saw that there was only a good five or so inches between his body and hers. He shifted his leg underneath the blankets in an attempt to get more comfortable and felt it graze something hard under the blankets. Realizing that it was Rikku's leg, he fought off the warmth growing in his cheeks and moved away, hoping she wasn't awake to notice it. Feeling his eyelid beginning to grow heavy, he made a mental note to himself to try and keep that distance between the two of them.
He began to feel the warmth all around him, and was grateful that Rikku had offered him a place to sleep. He had to admit that he was taken aback by her offer at first, but was glad nonetheless. He cracked an eye open and looked at her again, her body just inches in front of him. Her blonde hair was cascading down next to her pillow, the long strands just barely grazing his cheek.
Gippal let his eye close once again, the warmth of the blanket and the sound of the still night lulling him to sleep.
***
A/N: Fun, fun, FUN. I had the time of my life writing this chapter, and I know I'm going to make it better than this in future chapters. ^^;;
It gets more interesting after this chapter, so I'll see you all in Chapter 7! =)
***
{{ Chapter 6: Prelude to a Dream }}
***
The sun was just barely visible in the early twilight, its golden rays fading quickly behind the first signs of night. Rikku reached up to brush away a long strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes. She quickened her pace a bit so that she was just walking next to Gippal. He turned to look at her as she approached and smiled gently.
Up ahead, Rikku could see a rather large cluster of small white birds sitting quietly in their path. They moved about here and there, pecking at the ground for any traces of food that may have been lying around. All was quiet on the Moonflow path until they approached, a small twig cracking under one of Gippal's boots. As she walked next to him along the pathway, the birds suddenly flew up, white wings flapping into the air and clearing the area as they passed.
"A lot of birds here, huh?" Gippal suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen between them previously. He had his head tilted up towards the sky where the birds had flown up to. He had also stopped walking.
Rikku moved her eyes to him. Orange-yellow beams of light shone down upon his face, making his one visible eye twinkle in the early sunset.
"Yeah, you don't usually see this many in the Moonflow..." Rikku trailed off quietly. She stopped next to his side and looked up into the sky as well, her green eyes taking in the brilliant fiery reds and oranges of the early evening sky.
Gippal felt his eyes moving down from the sky to settle on Rikku. He sighed in relief to himself that his good eye was facing her. Taking advantage of the moment, he found himself glancing at her, the sight of her new appearance still not sinking in for him. Catching himself for realizing that a small pang of something he couldn't quite place a finger on had just crossed his conscience, Gippal moved his gaze away from her.
Rikku turned to face him, sensing his uneasiness.
"Something wrong, Gippal?"
He paused, hoping she hadn't caught him staring at her earlier. "U-uh, nothing." He cleared his throat and raised a hand to shield his eye from the bright sunset to their right, squinting to look down the pathway from where they had just come from.
"Hey, where'd Serru go?" Gippal asked suddenly, realizing that their other companion was presently not with them.
Rikku turned around as well. She chose not to say anything in response to what he had just said. Serru. From the moment she had first met him, Rikku noticed herself feeling strange when in his presence. Perhaps it was because of his deep green eyes and the way they always regarded her whenever he was in the same room, but Rikku just didn't feel quite right about him. There was something off about Serru...and she didn't know what it might have been.
"Well finally, there he is," Gippal's voice cut through her thoughts. She looked up, the gentle breeze causing her to raise a hand to push away her hair.
Serru came walking down the pathway towards them, his arms carrying the tents and bags from the airship. Rikku could see the outlines of his hair and strong jaw, the sunset illuminating his silhouette. She quickly began to feel uneasy at the sight of him and averted her gaze, moving them to look down at her boots.
"My apologies, sir. I dropped some of the bags and had to pick everything up again," Serru began with an even tone as he stopped in front of them. He paused slightly at seeing Rikku standing next to Gippal. His green eyes swept over her quickly before moving his gaze away. Rikku managed to catch him smirk right when she had looked up. She frowned in confusion.
"Rikku, what's the matter? You don't look too good..." Gippal said gently, not noticing what had just happened between Serru and Rikku. He reached up and turned her face towards his, and he froze, realizing what he had just done.
Rikku froze at the feeling of his warm fingers on her skin. Her face now tilted towards him, she shook her head and grinned awkwardly.
"Nope, nothing's wrong," she replied in hesitation.
Gippal looked her over one last time before shrugging and chuckling a bit. "You're a strange one, Rikku," he laughed good-naturedly.
Serru looked back and forth between them, feeling his jaw clench. He cleared his throat and the two promptly turned their attention to him.
"We should set up camp, sir. It's getting dark," he told Gippal.
"Oh, right. Here, let me get some of that," Gippal responded. He reached to take one of the bags and tents Serru had in one hand and started up the pathway again.
Rikku watched as Gippal started moving ahead before following after him, with Serru right behind her.
***
Yuna felt her lungs growing heavy as she ran after Paine. Smoke encircled the entire pathway up to the Zanarkand Dome, leaving no room for light to leak through. Her eyes struggled to look down at her feet, making sure she wasn't going to trip on anything as she ran blindly through the thick and heavy smoke.
"Paine!! Slow down! I can't see anything in here..." Yuna yelled desperately. She coughed.
"Yuna! Over here!" Paine's voice cut through from one side.
She stopped running and turned to her right where Paine's voice had just come from. Yes. It was that way.
"I'm coming, Paine!"
***
They had chosen a clearing within the forest that separated the Moonflow and Guadosalam. It was a nice area, the tall trees up above opening up into the night sky and allowing the bright moonlight to provide enough light. Serru had started a small fire, the soft crackling of the flames being the only sounds in the woods.
Gippal suddenly paused in confusion, raising a hand to run through his hair. He scanned the grounds, still not finding the item he was looking for.
"Um, Serru?"
"Sir?" Serru asked from his position next to the fire. His green eyes landed on Gippal.
"Aren't there supposed to be three tents? Where's the third one? We only have two up right now..." Gippal trailed off, his eye still scanning the area. Rikku watched on in confusion, setting aside her weapon. She stood and lifted up one of the bags next to her, seeing if the missing tent was there. None.
Serru looked around the area and smiled nervously. "I uh, I guess I forgot to get a third tent..."
Gippal raised an eyebrow at Serru's carelessness and sighed. He smiled weakly, sensing the nervous tone in Serru's voice. "No use in getting worked up over it now, huh? The airship's long gone."
"My deepest apologies, sir," Serru spoke quietly, not looking up.
Rikku walked over to where Gippal was sitting. "But wait, there's three of us. How're we all goin' to sleep tonight?" she asked and immediately wished she hadn't opened her mouth, already knowing what the answer would be.
Gippal looked up at Rikku who was standing above him. He saw the look of hesitation on her face as he chewed over what she had just said.
Serru stood up. "The lady must have one tent, of course," he spoke up, motioning to the tent nearest him.
Rikku looked over at Gippal who returned her gaze.
"And you may take the other one, sir. After all, it was my fault that we don't have enough tents..." Serru continued rather slowly, as if regretting his words.
"Nah, you take it, Serru. I'll stay out here and keep watch. I used to do this kind of stuff all the time back in the Crimson Squad days..." Gippal said as he stood up, moving the bags out and away from the fire. He walked by Rikku and she locked eyes with his for a brief moment before looking away.
"But Gippal, it'll get cold out here and—"
"S'ok, Rikku. Don't worry 'bout me," he responded quickly with a wave of one hand. Gippal smiled at her. "It's getting late. You sure you're not tired?" he asked coolly with a crooked smile.
"Nope!" Rikku retorted sharply, his smart-ass attitude returning from earlier that day. She knew he was teasing her, but it was still annoying nonetheless.
"I thank you, sir. Tomorrow I'll be on watch so you can sleep inside the tent," Serru spoke up from the other side of the fire. Rikku watched as he stood up. "I'm sorry to retire so early, but I really am exhausted."
Gippal turned around to face him. "Oh, yeah. No problem."
"Goodnight then, sir..." Serru began. He turned to Rikku. "Goodnight, my lady," he finished, his voice a little lower than before.
Rikku met his gaze with hesitation but forced herself to respond nonetheless. "Oh, g-goodnight," she stuttered.
With that, Serru stood and opened the flap of the large tent before stepping inside, zipping the entrance securely.
"You're not tired?" Gippal suddenly asked when Serru had left. He was sitting next to the fire with his arms around his knees.
Walking over to center of the clearing, Rikku sat herself down next to him, still a good distance across from where he was. She stared ahead at the fire, the soft crackling sounds providing a soothing effect on her.
"Gippal, I um..." Rikku began slowly.
He looked up from the fire to meet her expression. It seemed as if something was troubling her, but she was unwilling to talk about it.
"What's the matter?"
Rikku shifted uncomfortably and leaned to the opposite side she was facing, legs folded to the side of herself. Gippal saw her green eyes dart quickly up towards the direction of Serru's tent before responding to his question. He frowned at this.
"It's um, about Serru..." she began again, regretting this whole thing. He seemed to lean towards her as if caught off guard from what she had said.
"Serru?"
She looked up at his tent again, hoping that they were speaking soft enough so that Serru wouldn't hear.
"I dunno. I guess I just feel...weird when he's around..." Rikku said quietly as she raised her eyes to meet Gippal's. She hoped he wouldn't think she was odd for bringing a topic like this up, but Rikku felt comfortable when she had her conversations with Gippal, so there was no need to fear what he would say and—
"Oh, I get it," he interrupted suddenly. Rikku looked up in time to see a sly smile on his face. "You like him or somethin' Rikku?" Gippal asked.
She felt her mouth drop open in shock and she stood up, fuming. "WHAT?!"
He met her gaze, not a smile evident on his face. She decided to sit back down again, trying to compose herself.
"Gippal, I didn't say that. I said that he...gives me the creeps," Rikku explained, her voice lowering to almost a whisper at her last sentence. She looked at his face through the fire and sighed. "Nevermind."
Gippal paused, his mouth set into a firm line. He looked down at his fist in surprise, not noticing that it had been clenched the entire time. Turning his face away from her eyes, he sighed softly. He couldn't lie to himself. When Rikku had mentioned Serru, he automatically assumed that she was interested in the younger Al Bhed. Serru was seventeen years old, the same age Rikku was. Even if Gippal was only less than a year older than Rikku, he couldn't help but realize that he felt—
He froze at the thought. Right when Rikku had spoken about Serru, Gippal felt something race through him, making his blood boil at the sound of Rikku speaking about Serru. He was jealous.
Jealous?
Gippal looked up at her. She was looking down at her boots, a serious expression on her face. He knew he had teased her earlier, but that was only to cover up his own jealously. He almost laughed at the thought of getting jealous so easily.
"It's late, Rikku. We should go to sleep now," Gippal said suddenly, keeping his voice low.
She looked at him. "Oh, right. We should."
He stood up and offered her a smile, carrying a hint of apology. "Forget about what I said earlier. Don't worry about Serru...he can be a bit strange but—"
"It's okay, Gippal. Just forget what I said too," Rikku said.
He nodded once and looked at the tent on the other side of the clearing. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then. 'Night."
Rikku smiled gently and began to walk in the direction of her tent. She tossed a glance back at where Gippal began to lay down and mentally cursed Serru for forgetting the third tent. Because of his carelessness, Gippal had to sleep outside that night.
A wild thought suddenly came to her, and it made her frown in disapproval with herself for even thinking it. Never. There was no way she could even dream of letting Gippal share a tent with her. He would probably think she was being too forward. She shook her head. 'You're such a dummy, Rikku,' she told herself.
Stepping into the rather spacious confines of her tent, Rikku took one more look at the outside. Gippal was sleeping just a few feet outside her tent, his blonde hair visible under the moonlight. He had put the fire out and the campsite was now dim and quiet.
She zipped up her tent, leaving a small opening in the flap so she could still see outside to where Gippal was, in case something were to happen. Rikku groaned at her pessimistic side. She was always thinking negatively. Snapping off her belt and kicking off her boots, Rikku let herself burrow down within the blankets and closed her eyes in the darkness, forcing herself to sleep. Her body was comfortable all around, soft and snug blankets cradling her. But she found herself worrying about Gippal. While she was in here, enjoying the warmth, he was out there battling the cold.
She suddenly stood up and threw her blankets off, unable to shake off that feeling tugging at the edge of her consciousness. Unzipping the flap of the tent, she tiptoed to where Gippal was sleeping and bent down next to him. Raising a hesitant hand to rest on his shoulder, she gently shook him.
He slowly cracked his good eye open and suddenly stood up in alarm. "What's wrong? Something happen?" Gippal promptly asked, searching her face for any sign of trouble.
She raised a finger to her lips and shook her head. "Sshh. Nothing's wrong."
He stared back at her with confusion evident in his eye, the moonlight from up above casting a glow over his black eye patch. Sitting up on one elbow, Gippal sent her a soft grin, raising one eyebrow as he did so.
"Well if nothing's wrong, then why are you here?" he asked in a whisper, a light smile on his face.
Rikku paused, realizing that even she didn't know why she was out there in the middle of night shaking Gippal awake. She suddenly realized that her hand was still on his shoulder from when she first shook him awake. Her green eyes trailed up to his face. His gaze was on her hand as well.
She fought off a blush from her embarrassment and pulled her hand away. He raised his eye to her.
"I um...well, aren't you cold out here?" Rikku managed to ask hesitantly.
Gippal met her gaze seriously, his one good eye clear and sparkling under the moonlight. He seemed to collect his thoughts before replying.
"So you came back out here 'cause you were worried about me?" he finally asked, bringing himself up in a sitting position so they were both facing each other on the ground.
Rikku froze, realizing the answer he was now expecting her to say. She kept her green eyes on her hands, avoiding his gaze.
"Well it's cold out here, and I was worried and there's a lot of room in my tent and I..." Rikku began quickly, her words jamming together as she spoke. She moved her eyes back to Gippal. He was staring back at her seriously. "You know what, I um...nevermind," she said again, already standing up.
Gippal's eyes followed her form as she stood up. The cool breeze began to blow, reminding him that this was indeed not the type of weather he could handle. Trying to make sense of the whole situation, he stood as well, running a hand through his hair quickly.
"Wait."
Rikku stopped in her steps. 'Oh great, I just made a complete dummy out of myself and now he's gonna make fun of me,' she thought to herself. Turning around to face Gippal, she could barely see the expression on his face through the darkness.
"You're right...I uh, really can't stand this type of weather," he began in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head with one hand.
"Oh..." Rikku replied, realizing what he was trying to say.
"It uh, might not be right for us to sleep in the same tent but, uh...I grew up in the desert so this type of weather ain't really what I'm used to and uh..." Gippal continued to explain. He met her gaze with an expression of embarrassment.
"You might get sick...?" Rikku offered.
He laughed quietly. "Yeah..."
Rikku found herself smiling at that, but suddenly stopped as a fierce gust of cold wind suddenly picked up, causing her long hair to ruffle about wildly. She looked back at him. He had his arms crossed across his chest, trying to keep warm. This wasn't something Rikku could stand seeing others experience. She needed to help him.
"Alright then. Let's get some sleep," she suddenly said brightly, her voice just barely above a whisper. He seemed to look very grateful at her words.
Leading them back to the tent, she found him holding the flap open for her as she stepped in first. Gippal entered shortly behind her, his one eye sweeping over the floor quickly. There really was enough space in there for two people.
He watched as Rikku bent down and began moving blankets about, setting aside a heavy blanket for him.
"Listen Rikku, this really means a lot to me, but I can't help but feel as if—"
"I know what you're gonna say Gippal, but do you really wanna get sick out there? You're our leader y'know," she cut him off, her back still to him as she found one pillow for him and threw it at his face, catching him off guard.
Gippal gaped at her. "Hey, what was that for?" he asked with a light chuckle. He suddenly felt himself loosening up and lowered his tired body down on the blankets next to her. She was smiling at him.
"Goodnight then, Gippal," Rikku simply said to him as she moved over to her side of the tent and pulled the blanket up and over herself, her back facing him.
He couldn't help but smile at the way she deliberately ignored his question. Nevertheless, he felt his body telling his mind that it was time to get some rest. It was nearly midnight.
Carefully moving himself under the blanket Rikku had given him, he scooted as far as he could to his side. Glancing at the space between him and Rikku, Gippal saw that there was only a good five or so inches between his body and hers. He shifted his leg underneath the blankets in an attempt to get more comfortable and felt it graze something hard under the blankets. Realizing that it was Rikku's leg, he fought off the warmth growing in his cheeks and moved away, hoping she wasn't awake to notice it. Feeling his eyelid beginning to grow heavy, he made a mental note to himself to try and keep that distance between the two of them.
He began to feel the warmth all around him, and was grateful that Rikku had offered him a place to sleep. He had to admit that he was taken aback by her offer at first, but was glad nonetheless. He cracked an eye open and looked at her again, her body just inches in front of him. Her blonde hair was cascading down next to her pillow, the long strands just barely grazing his cheek.
Gippal let his eye close once again, the warmth of the blanket and the sound of the still night lulling him to sleep.
***
A/N: Fun, fun, FUN. I had the time of my life writing this chapter, and I know I'm going to make it better than this in future chapters. ^^;;
It gets more interesting after this chapter, so I'll see you all in Chapter 7! =)