A/N: Sigh sigh...here it is...the last chapter. I THINK.  But I don't know for sure yet...I guess we'll see how it turns out.

And so I moved on...

Moved away from Gippal and the wonderful relationship that was just starting up again. I couldn't gripe and moan around Paine and Yuna of course—though Paine seemed to have that look like she knows something that I think she doesn't—or something like that.

It was great to hear from him on the earpierce—but it was never for long. And even then it was a bit choppy and cut off, but he always seemed too busy for me-working and talking to other Al Bhed ABOUT work...and when he went missing we totally lost contact COMPLETELY.

But I'm going to share just a quick memory from when we first talked on that amazing invention of his.

A crackling came from the inside of Rikku's left ear. At first she swore she was going insane, until she heard a faraway voice in her ear.

"Rikku?"

Her heart skipped a beat. It had been 3 weeks-3 long, terrible weeks, wondering if she'd ever hear from Gippal. She glanced around the Celsius bridge to see everyone else too engrossed in whatever they were doing to pay attention to her. She ran up the stairs and quickly ran for the cabin.

"Gippal?" She finally answered, breathing heavily from the running. Barkeep gave her a questioning glance, but she motioned at him to scoot along. He shrugged and with a "Shorry Mish Rikku" he was around the corner.

"Rikku!" She heard him repeat, this time happily. Rikku felt weak at the knees.

"Oh Gippal, I've missed you SO much!" She cried, hoping he could hear her. There was a little fuzzy crackle, when he answered,
"same here! Holy cow Rikku, it seems like forever!"

"Oh, I know! I really wish I was there with you right now." She sighed into the earpierce, her voice having a hint of loss and loneliness. But Gippal, being the kind, caring, sensitive soul he was, didn't catch it.

"Huh, what? Oh, hang on a sec Goose, there's some guy coming over here—" He stopped talking into the earpierce, and she heard some random mutterings in Al Bhed, when Gippal finally yelled "I Don't CARE if it takes 4 hours, just GET TO IT!"

Rikku cringed. "Gipp?"

"Huh? Oh, yea! Rikku, look, I'm sorry. It's really busy here, Cid's given us tons—"

Rikku just shrugged, her eyes stinging with held back tears. "S'okay." She croaked. "I should probably leave you anyway."

"Aw...Rikku."

"It's okay Gippal. I can see work is busy."

"Thanks loads, you're a doll. Love you!"

And with that he clicked off, a silent earpierce still wedged in her ear like it had been ever since Gippal had given it to her. But to her, the silence left from the machine was deafening.

When Yuna came back and said she had seen Gippal and Nooj, I was insanely jealous-I wanted to ask her what he was like now, but that would seem weird...but I didn't have to wait long. That commsphere of Shinra's worked wonders and I saw him down in the Farplane.

But seeing him on a screen isn't the same as being beside him, touching him and being held by him...augh, it was torture to keep that pain inside of myself.

Anyway, I'm getting off track...even after the big whole Vegnagun thing, I didn't see Gippal for ages. You know, Yuna wanted me to follow her around like a lost kitten while she went and reunited with Tidus, WHICH, by the way, just made me want to leave to see Gippal even more, and THEN she didn't want to go to all those stupid presentations alone. I TRIED to tell her she had Tidus, but she wanted me there.

And usually I would have felt flattered, but I just wanted her to suck it up and let me go on with my life. I hadn't heard from Gippal in like, 5 months until she FINALLY let me go. I never realized just how clingy that girl is.

And finally, I was free. Heck, it was emotional. You know, the occasional boo-hoo and whatnot. Paine didn't really seem to care-thank God. Just as I was about to catch the boat off Luca to Djose, Paine grabbed at my arm.

Rikku stopped short in her steps, frustration running through her. She looked back to see Yuna and Tidus in the background, waving. Rikku waved back happily. Though she was anxious for her own love life, it was GREAT to see Tidus back—she had really missed him.

"What IS it Paine?" She asked, grumbling. Paine just gave her a teasing smirk.

"I just wanted to tell you good luck."

"Good...luck?" Rikku asked, her skin starting to sweat. "What-what do you mean?" She asked again with a nervous giggle.

Paine held back the overpowering force to roll her eyes. "Good luck with Gippal!" She finally hissed. Rikku took a step back, a wee bit shocked.

"H-Huh?"

"Oh, come OFF it Rikku. I know the reason you didn't come digging was because of Gippal, and I've seen that earpierce sticking out of your ear like a sore thumb-"

"Ew. That'd be weird." Rikku cut in.

Paine growled. "Let me finish. Anyway, and you've been all melancholy since we left Djose, and when we last saw him you were hideously lovesick."

"That's not true." Rikku pouted. She wished Paine hadn't discovered her secret.

Paine just shrugged. "Say what you like, but I have an eye for these things." She poked at her right eye. "Just because I'm serious on the outside doesn't mean I can't catch lovey-dovey things like that."

"COME ON!" A voice called from the ship. Rikku ripped away from Paine.

"Think what you want, Paine, but you'll NEVER know!" She giggled and ran backwards to the ship, waving at the three of them. Paine gave her a little hand up, but Yuna was waving frantically, which caused Tidus to take a few steps away, just a bit creeped out. Rikku laughed.

"BYE!"

Here it was. As I sat on that boat, feet tapping impatiently, I knew I was going to meet Gippal. Finally. And it wouldn't be with sudden interruptions, or that nagging feeling of having to go somewhere after only a few days together. Nope, now it was forever-hopefully.

And while one side of me cried out to go hug and kiss Gippal, there was another side—a more thinking and pessimistic side of me, that ALWAYS got in the way. I had thought it was gone, but it decided to pop up unexpectedly when I least needed it.

'You don't want to go back to Gippal.' It chided. 'I mean, come on. You're afraid that he'll be with someone else again, or that he'll dump you at the nearest corner after he gets tired of you. That's what you expect, isn't it? I mean, come on—you two are TOTALLY different. Completely. He'll get tired of you soon-and when that happens he'll kick you out like last week's garbage...and you'll cry and relive the terrible moment, seeing yourself as worthless, and that you did something wrong. You're afraid of all this. You don't want to have your heart broken again. I say play it safe, and keep away from him. He is SO not the one for you-you deserve someone who'll care for you, and ACTUALLY talk to you when he calls you, not get distracted by work. I mean, come on! Work seems more important to him than YOU...is that what you call a lover? Nope, I didn't think so. So I say leave him. Just don't tell him anything and leave for a better place-back to Luca where there's thousands of guys to choose from! Come on...just ditch Gippal. You don't want to feel heart-break again...and Gippal ISN'T going to help you with that..."

That went on for quite awhile. I fully agreed with it most of the time—wasn't he the one that had caused me to feel grief for the last few years? But then, the other side came and in and told me that I only felt grief because I loved him too much to accept any other fact...and that just proved it. I loved him. I love him, and I always will, no matter what.

And that's where you caught me. Yes, this whole thing started with the darker side of me forcing me to believe Gippal wasn't the one for me...and, reliving all those memories just now, I DO realize he HAS caused me heart-break and sadness...but I've done the same to him. And to match that pain we have a love that is even STRONGER...

So I'm off to go meet him. To meet the man I love head on, with no interruptions or needed sneakiness.

I can fondle him and do ANYTHING I want with him.

There's nothing to stop me now!

Except for that little, itty-bitty thing, called...fear.

A/N: TADA! See? There's ANOTHER chapter.  This one was painfully short, but I didn't want to make this one too long.

And just to inform you if you didn't get it, at the beginning of this whole thing Rikku had been saying Gippal WASN'T the one for her...but just now she explained it was her darker side that had said that. You caught her at a bad time. 

So in the next chapter, it WON'T be a memory-nope, it'll be in present tense this time. Well, you know, not italics. No memories—the next chapter is the real thing.

R&R please! Thanks for all the reviews, love them—no wait, love YOU all!