Too Much Water - Chapter 2

'Who's making this much noise at such an early hour?!', Rikku thought, as she pulled her covers up to her chin. She heard several male voices coming from the bar area. Was it Buddy? Brother? She couldn't place who it was, but she knew she had heard them before. Suddenly loud male laughter hit Rikku's eardrums like a rock, and knowing she'd never be able to go back to sleep, she reluctantly climbed out of bed. Halfway down the stairs she came to a halt. She rubbed her eyes vigorously, HOPING that the scene at the bar was merely an illusion. But alas, when her vision was clear again nothing had changed. Gippal was dancing around, his movements resembling that of a fish out of water. Baralai was apperantly trying to get his leg behind his head. Rikku wasn't sure she wanted to know why. And Nooj, calm, sane, practical Nooj, was eating a small, potted plant.

" Heeeeeyyyy, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkuuuuuuuuuuuuu!", Gippal called as he stumbled around. " Come and plaaaaay with uuusssssss."

Rikku sighed. Drunk. She had always respected Gippal, thinking he was very levelheaded and smart. Obviously, she had missed some info somewhere.

" What are you doing here Gippal?" Rikku removed the plant from Noojs' grasp and threw it away. She decided to leave Baralai to his own devices.

" Weeeelll, we were juust stoooping in to have a little driiiiiiink."

The overpronunciation was starting to irritate Rikku. If they didn't keep it down, they were bound to wake Yuna. And where was Paine?

Nooj suddenly blinked and looked around.

" Where'd Brigadoon go?"

His speech wasn't slurred like Gippal's, though he still looked dazed. Rikku wasn't sure how to answer the question, or what to do about them. She picked up a small communicator from behind the bar and tried calling Paine. No answer. With a sigh, Rikku pressed the intercom button.

" Brother? Brother, if you can hear me, please come to the cabin. IMMEDIATELY." She released the button and sat on a stool.

" You know, I wasn't planning on babysitting today, but..........." Rikku let out a sigh. Without paying much attention she picked up a nearly empty glass of water and took a sip.

" Oh Brother, can you come to the cabin? Oh Brother, can you fix the ships engines? Oh, Brother can you wait on me every second of the day?!?!" Brother stormed through the halls of the ship, annoyed that his younger sister was ordering him around again. Whatever the reason for her message, it had better be good. As captain of the Celsius, Brother rarely got a day off. But since things had been so quiet lately, Buddy had told him to relax, and that if anything happened he'd contact him ASAP. Since they were docked near Besaid, Brother had planned on relaxing on the beach most of the day. He had been on his way out the door when Rikku's voice had blown his plans to smithereens.

" This had better not be a joke. For so help me if it is......"

He slammed his hand down onto the controls that opened the cabin door.

" Rikku! What is so damned important that-!" His speech was prohibited by the fact that Baralai was trying to kiss him.

" Oh Brother, I love you! Lets get married!" Baralai craned his neck to reach Brother's lips. Scared to death, Brother punched Baralai square on the jaw. He regretted it a second later when he realized that he had just assaulted a Praetor.

" Rikku! What is going on in here?!"

They both watched in shock as Gippal jumped from the top of the stairs and landed on top of Nooj, crushing the bar stool in the process.

" Don't yell at me! I just woke up and found them like this!"

" Where are Paine and Yuna?!"

" Well.... Yuna's still sleeping, and I think Paine left already."

Brother let out a cry of rage. Things were never normal on the ship, but they usually were'nt dealing with a bunch of drunken crazies. He stopped and thought for a moment. Who could help them? Who could put these men back to a right state of mind? And then it hit him.

" SHINRA! GET IN HERE NOW!"

Shinra froze. Had someone found out? Had Paine drunk the water? He sure hoped so! He quickly rushed to the cabin.

" Yes?"

He was a little startled when he opened the door and saw Gippal trying to use one of the dress spheres. On top of that, Nooj was out cold on the floore, blood dripping from his nose, and Baralai, PRAETOR Baralai, was swinging from the light fixture like a monkey.

" What in blue blazes is going on in here?!?!?!"

Brother yanked Baralai down.

" We were hoping you could tell us!"

" What's all the noise about guys?"

Everyone looked up at toward the bed area, and saw Yuna. She was still in her nightgown and was rubbing her right eye.

" Oh Yunie! Sorry we woke you up! We umm, we have a little problem down here."

" Miss Yuna! Come to my bosom!" Gippal crushed Yuna to his chest and started stroking her hair. "So lovely. Like a freshly blossomed flower on a warm spring day!" Yuna had turned ten shades of red.

" GET OFF OF LADY YUNA!"

Brother picked up Gippal and threw him out one of the open windows.

" Brother! That's a 50 foot drop to the water! He could get hurt!" Rikku rushed towards the window and watched as Gippal hit the water in a bellyflop. Amazingly, he swam to shore, apparently not hurt in the least.

Gippal shook out his hair. His head felt foggy, as if he'd been in a daze or only half asleep. He looked around.

" The beach? What in the hell am I doing here?"

He kept hearing a distant cry. Either from a bird or a human. He turned and saw the Celsius a little ways away, floating above the water. If he squinted and turned his head just to the right a bit he could make out a figure leaning out of one of the upper windows.

" HELLO UP THERE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!!!"

He listened carefully and thought he heard a 'YES!'.

" CAN YOU COME TO SHORE AND GET ME?"

If the person had answered the wind had carried it away. Gippal gave a sigh. oh well, maybe it was time he took a little vacation. He turned and walked up the beach, heading towards the town.

AUTHORS NOTE

Ok, this was a little short, but I promise a new chapter will be up pretty soon. I aiming at this story only being 4 or 5 chapters long, but that could easily change. Hope everyone enjoys the story so far!!

MELLY