It was a month later. Amazingly—I had made it. I made it through a whole month without dying.

Ever wonder why I'm so insanely hyper? Well, truthfully, it's so I can cope with depression. Really. Everyone always classifies me as 'the happy, go-lucky one', but in all reality, I'm pretty much just like everybody else.

But maybe a wee bit more excited than most.

Like the day I got his first letter.

"Rikku! Mail!" Briak called. The mail carrier waved a rather thick envelope.

Rikku had just been making a few minor repairs to the walls of Home.

"What? REALLY?!" Rikku cried, her heart leaping out of her throat. Her mind whirled as she prayed it was from Gippal.

"It's from Gippy." Briak said in a mock cooing voice. Rikku slapped him on the shoulder.

"Stop it! Just because of our kiss-"

Briak just chuckled. "Whatever you say Princess." With that he walked away, whistling a tune.

Rikku just rolled her eyes and sprinted off to her house to read the note in peace.

It had been torture. Sincere torture, wondering if he was okay, if there were other women, or if he didn't care for her anymore...and just the actual loss of him made her heart dry out.

Hungrily she ripped open the envelope and unfolded the long letter, hugging it close.

"Hi Gipp." She muttered, grinning stupidly at her own nonsense.

"Dearest Rikku,

Hey there! It's Gippal! Did you miss me? You better have. By the way, I haven't gotten killed yet.

I miss you like a dozen Al Bhed's miss machina. (Though you're not machina, don't take it THAT way). Do you miss me?

Oh, guess what? I have some exciting news! Djose said they didn't need me—said I was too young. What a bunch of ox headed jerks. But, anyway, Cid told me there was something I could do—join an army called the Crimson Squad. And, well, you know, I said 'Sure!', and here I am, in the middle of some unknown place in Spira, training for a big battle of sorts. But the leaders won't tell us.

It's actually really nice here. Lots of trees and forest. But I'm not used to nature like this, and they always laugh at me.

Who's they? Well, its these two guys named Nooj and Barrel or something. Then this girl, but all she does is take sphere's of us, really.

Rikku giggled as she read. Barrel? Some memory he had. But the more she read, the more her heart panged to hear his voice.

So, anyway, enough about me. What about YOU? Have you done anything interesting? Don't forget to go to the sand dunes and watch the stars every night like we used to. I'll do the same out here, okay?

I LoveE yoU RikkI!

Oh Yevon. Sorry about that! That was that Barrel kid who wrote that. Don't worry, I'll pummel him to death, the bastard.

Anyway, I should probably go, even though I don't want to train. I'm not the romantic type, but I really miss you. I want to hear your voice, ya know? Even though you're probably sick of mine. HAH.

I'm eating my vegetables...and I still haven't forgotten you.

Always yours,

Gippal

Rikku wiped away tears that had been falling, even though she hadn't known it. She missed him so much. And now he was off to fight in a war! What a silly guy.

"But he misses me." Rikku said, smiling softly.

Quickly she shot up and ran to her desk, ripping out paper and a pen. She needed to write back ASAP.

GIPPAL!

Aww Gipp I miss you more than a dozen Al Bhed miss their stupid machina! I miss you like the earth misses the sun!

I'm sooo glad to hear from you. For a while I thought you had forgotten me! Nah, just kidding, I knew you wouldn't.

That war stuff sounds okay, but I'm not the fighting type. Just, and again, just DON'T DIE. I'd kill you again if you did.

Well, it's pretty boring here at Home. Pops and the ship still haven't come back...I wish they came back with you.

I've been making a few quick repairs to things that people had forgotten. Sorry my job isn't done that good when you come back-it might burn your retinas out.

I've been alone this whole time pretty much, except for when I have to baby-sit those pesky little Al Bhed kids. Yevon do they know how to run—fast!

I'm getting bored...almost lifeless. Ohhhh, my 15th birthday's in a few days! Can you believe it? Even though this letter won't reach you by then, wish me a happy birthday!

And then—I'll be 15. Now I know how you feel. It IS dull here. Maybe I'll go out somewhere...but then we'd lost contact-so never mind.

Scratch that whole paragraph, okay? Pretend you didn't read it.

Anyway, I guess I should go too...I wish I could write you a million page letter on how much I miss you, but I don't thin k that's possible.

PS: Tell that Barrel kid to back off, I'm yours!

You might have eaten your vegetables, but I haven't.

Miss you till Spira explodes,

Rikku.

Rikku looked over it, frowning, fixed a few spelling mistakes, and doodled a small heat by her name with GR in it. She giggled, stuck it in an envelope, and ran out to find Briak.

"BRIAK!" She called as she saw the man. "Don't leave yet!" He sighed.

"What do you need?"

"Send this to Gippal. I don't care if it takes you 6 months, but find him!"

Briak looked a little frightened at Rikku's forcing tone. "Okay, okay! I know where he is anyway, so just calm down and don't worry your pretty little head about it."

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Fine." She handed him the letter, glanced at it longingly, than bounded back to the group of Al Bhed that were calling out her name.

So, Gippal and I communicated via letters for a number of months...I think the most common were around four. But, as the days got longer, I received less and less letters from him. When I did, he never apologized for being late. And it always sounded like he was having a blast, doing this or doing that.

And where was I? Stuck in Home, 15 years old now, and...nothing to do.

That is, until I got word of the ruins.

SIX MONTHS LATER

"Are you sure you want to do this Rikku?" Cid asked, looking down into his young daughters eyes. "I mean, come on, you're only 15, you youngin'..." He smiled sadly.

"Oh Pops, don't do this." Rikku said, frowning slightly. "You know I'm responsible enough, AND I'm getting bored! I mean, Gippal got to go—"

Cid looked at her sharply. "This isn't just some excuse to go lookin' for him, is it? 'Cause if it is..."

Rikku sighed. "No, Pops, it isn't. And besides, Brother's coming with me, so RELAX."

Cid's tensed shoulder sagged a little. "Aw, all right. The boats ready and rarin' to go." He sighed, rubbing at his head. "I'm gonna miss you, my Princess."

Rikku jumped up, giving her dad a hug. "Thanks Pops! I mean, for letting me do this, not the missing thing." She blushed. "I'll miss you too, AND Home, but I'll be home after we know more about those underwater ruins, okay?"

Cid nodded. "Off you go then."

Rikku gave him one last grin, a wave of her hand, and then stepped into the Air Ship that would take them to where their Al Bhed waited.

Now, you all know the story of the boat, right? I mean, me with my snazzy armor, and then going to Baaj Temple and me finding Tidus and stuff like that? Well, that's what this trip was about. I'm not going to go into detail, because I'm sure you know all that already, SOOO, let's just skip that part, and---

Okay, I'm rambling too much. I guess we'll see where this goes—

NEXT TIME.