A/N: This chapter and the next three were written accidentally in the wrong tense. I hope this doesn't confuse anyone. I really don't know why I did that. Sorry.

AT

Chapter 17: Wish You Well

The morning makes its way into her room uninvited. Rikku, making no other sudden movements, opens her eyes and stares at her ceiling. The paint was peeling and there are watermarks from the tenants upstairs who just can't seem to keep the water in their fifty-five gallon tank. On several occasions she had to place buckets strategically along her floor to catch the endless drops that fell to avoid further damage to her already worn out carpet. Blinking a couple of times before finally stirring, she rubs her eyes and sits up, leaning against the cold wooden bedpost.

Taking a look around, she sees no sign of her savior, the one who promised to stay until she fell asleep. Obviously, he kept his promise considering he wasn't there, indicating she did get sleep after all. The nightmares she had all night were confusing to her at best, most times they were so vivid she couldn't tell if she was awake or not; that's why she felt like she really didn't sleep at all. They consisted of fighting with Gippal at the club, the scenarios playing themselves over and over as a record skipping on a turntable. Every time the dream restarted, Gippal became more hostile and the crowd cheered him on, no matter how many times she tried to run, her feet were super glued to the dance floor and she was forced to listen to the chants of the people as they screamed 'make her cry' repeatedly.

Making her way sleepily to her bathroom, the carpet feels nice under her feet, soft from wear. Looking in the mirror, her eyes were bloodshot, the green that had once been lush as fresh grown grass took on a rather pea-like complexion, devoid of life. Her cheeks were red and raw, the result of too many tears falling on them. She wipes her face with a damp cloth and brushes her teeth before retreating to the shower, eager to wash off the stench of rejection from Gippal. Funny how when you're at your lowest something as simple as a shower could help wash away the residue of the day before, letting you start anew. She steps out of the stall, her body dripping as she walks back into her bedroom. Rikku loses herself in her walk in closet, throwing clothes frantically about the room, as she tries to find something to wear.

"Oh, all my good clothes are dirty. Guess I hafta do laundry." She complains, gathering up all of her clothes and putting them in a hamper. She settles on a green T-shirt and black pants that had the word 'Princess' embossed on her behind. Dragging the hamper behind her, she opens her hall closet, which reveals her washer and dryer. Rikku throws the clothes in and dumps a cup of detergent over them. Starting it up, she eyes the clock to time how long it would be and heads for the kitchen.

"I could use some breakfast." And she opens the cabinets looking for something to eat. Finding a box of 'Cho-co-bo' cereal, she dumpssome in a plastic container and picks at the oat-encrusted os contently. Right after that, she starts a pot of coffee, her vice to get the day started. Looking at her comm. Sphere, she sees it blinking, indicating a message. She pushes the button and waits for the voice to speak. To her dismay, it was an old message; the one Baralai left her a few weeks ago.

"Thank you Rikku for everything, I hope I can return the favor someday. Gippal doesn't really know what he's lost, that's for sure. Until we meet again, farewell."

Smiling to herself, she sighs and pushes the button, erasing the message. It was funny to her that those words would become reality eventually and he really would help her, in more ways than one. She leans against her island, a freshly brewed cup of caffeine in her hands as she stares into space, not focusing on any particular item in the apartment. Her blankness turns to Baralai, and the occurrence between the two of them the night before. Remembering what had transpired, she blushes five shades of red, and almost drops the mug in her hands.

"That's right!" she reveals to herself, shocked. In the chaos of her nightmares, she'd forgotten about her pouncing on the hapless praetor and trying to take advantage of him. A tidal wave of regret drowns her, as she hoped that she didn't ruin anything between them. Her thoughts threw out many questions: was he mad? Is that why he left? Did he like it? Did I like it? She dismisses the latter question. "Of course, I liked it." She smacks her head dumbly. "Duh". Truth was, she really liked it. What if he didn't? Then she'd be in big trouble.

"I could have very well lost him for good." Rikku notes, staring sadly into the beverage that shared Baralai's skin tone and appearance: tan and hot. "I have to go see him or something, to clear my name" she declares, a hand to the air in conquest, but she quickly retracts the hand as if it was bitten by something poisonous. "Not until I finish this laundry." She slumps back into her stool and peels over the pages of a newspaper that lay on the counter. After several minutes her buzzer rings, startling her. She barely got visitors so the buzzer always sounded so alien to her even though she'd lived there for so long.

Rikku stands up and presses the 'respond' button. "This is Rikku, may I ask who's there?" she questions, her ear to the receiver patiently. The voice at the other end was one she hadn't expected to ever hear from again.

"Rikku its Gippal. Can I come up? We need to talk." His tone seems a combination of remorse and earnest, she wasn't sure what to do or think of it. Why was he here? She wasn't up for another showdown and she plainly stated the point.

"Are you here to finish me off?" Rikku hisses- her anger barely contained within the receiver. "I'm not up for it. Come back when I get my knives back from the smithy so I'm properly prepared for you." She was about to hang up when he screamed back into the receiver as fast as he could.

"Please let me see you Rikku I've come to apologize!" his words stunned her. "He actually came to apologize?" she thinks in surprise, a hand to her chin in disbelief. She sighs in defeat and presses the button letting him in. She could hear his boots as they thumped like a shoopuf across the carpeted hall. "He never was one to have any consideration for others." She muses as he knocks on her door. Clicking the lock, she opens the door and it creaks as it slides across the floor.

Before her was Gippal, he leans against the entryway with his right hand, his head hung in shame. Rikku rolls her eyes and turns around, heading for her living room. Gippal enters and follows her, plopping on the couch. She spins around in his direction, her arms folded and with the nastiest glare she could concoct, she stares him down. She did notice his nose, but she really didn't feel like being concerned for his well being at the moment. She figured whatever he did to get it he deserved it so.

"So, I'm listening." She says, tapping her bare foot on the floor. The gesture was potent only because of her body language; the carpet beneath her muffles the sound of the tapping. Gippal crosses his right leg over his left, placing his left hand over the top of it, all the while resting his chin on his right hand, which was on the arm of the couch.

"I'm really sorry about last night." He begins, placing his hand to the back of his head nervously. "I should have never said or did anything I did to you." He sounds sincere to her, but she wasn't about to be fooled so easily.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just throw you out right now?" Rikku petitions, huffing and turning her face toward her walls in disgust. After a brief silence, Gippal inhales deeply and continues preaching his testimony.

"Paine. She made me realize you weren't conspiring with Baralai to get her and I back. I guess I was hurt because you were so eager to toss me from your life. It wasn't fair of me." He averts his gaze from hers, fixating his eye on the window to his right. Rikku was shocked. "Paine actually bought our scheme?" she thinks to herself, surprised that she also convinced Gippal it wasn't a ruse. She decides to leave it at that, and not tell him it really wasn't true. She uses this opportunity to try to get some more information out of him if he had any.

"What did she mean by that?" Rikku asks dumbly. Hearing the bell from the washer ding, she walks over to the closet and throws the wet clothes into the dryer connected to it as he continued.

"She convinced me you two really were in love." He replies, calling to her from the living room. Rikku stops in her tracks and stares at the washer vacantly. She couldn't believe what he just said. "In love? She could tell?" she answers with an 'oh, how so?' and he continues on. Rikku closes the dryer door and starts it up before returning to the living room. She hauls one of her stools behind her and sits down on it, intent to listen to the rest of his story.

"I was too big headed to think you guys could actually have something, but Paine set me straight. It was arrogant of me to assume you both were lying about your relationship. I could tell by the way Baralai slugged me that he cares for you a great deal." Rikku giggles and blushes. She looks at him as he rubs his nose, something he'd been doing habitually since last night when he was punched.

"Baralai punched you because of me?" she asks, wide eyed. She leans in closer to him, this tale growing extremely interesting by the minute. Gippal shifts in his seat, switching his legs since the one was falling asleep. He nods reluctantly.

"Yeah, he handed me my ass." He says embarrassed. "He'd gotten tougher since we were squad members, must be something in that holy water in the temple." He smirks, and then growing solemn, he glances at Rikku smiling apologetically. "I should have noticed right then that he loved you. I suppose I was a little jealous, but I know you're with a good guy. He won't let you down like I did." Gippal stares at the floor and sighs before standing up. Rikku stands as well, and was face to face with him. She takes his hands and looks him in the eye sympathetically.

"You didn't let me down." She admits, rocking their interlocked hands side to side. "You're feelings just changed. It wasn't something you could control. Feelings are feelings." Gippal releases his hands from hers and envelopes his arms around her. She's a little stunned at first, but she eventually reciprocates, putting her arms around him as well. He pats her back and they release each other; both smiling the best they could for the moment. It wasn't easy for either of them, but they got through it somehow.

"I should go. Paine will wonder where I got to so early in the morning." He chuckles meekly, scratching the back of his head. Rikku too let out a good laugh.

"You still don't tell people where you go do you? You'll never change." She notes, walking him to the door. "Thanks for the apology, it means a lot you came here today." Rikku was happier inside that she was able to find out that Baralai in fact, did love her and thanks to Paine, Gippal believed the charade. She decides he didn't need to know they were initially planning what he had discovered because it was her turn to have the upper hand. He turns to her and smiles one last time.

"Good luck. As I said, you have a great guy. Take care, Rikku." And with that, he makes his way down the hall and the stairs, exiting her building. Rikku leans into the doorway and watches him go. She couldn't control the lightness that was filling her body as she too realized she loved Baralai as well, and she couldn't wait to tell him.

"I really have to see him, ASAP." She says to herself, smiling broadly. Taking her clothes out of the dryer she picks out a suitable outfit to wear and quickly changes. Fixing her hair and makeup, she darts out the door to her hover roadster and climbs inside; she starts it up and speeds to Luca. The next ferry to Kilika was in a half an hour and she needed to make haste to get there.