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Chapter III: Memories are Just Memories, Ya?

oooooooooooooooooooo

"Gippal, stop!" I protested, tugging on his arm urgently. He yanked his arm away from my grasp and waved me away in a dismissive manner, stepping forward. "Ugh, why must you be so stubborn, you arrogant prick?" I sighed, rubbing my temples.

He glanced back at me, then back at his opponent, hissing, "You call me an arrogant prick? I'm defending you, you peppy brat!"

"I don't want to be defended! Forget about that air-head!" I shouted, stomping up to him and snatching at his collar, strangling him from behind.

"Ha, I knew it, gonna have your chick fight your battles?" A young Al Bhed boy scoffed, snickering like a scaly snake until his cronies joined in. They were all fifteen, except for me, who was fourteen, yet they still acted like immature children. At the time, we were all living back at home where our city still stood. Bikanel Island was at its prime and machina couldn't have been more state of the art. Al Bhed teenagers were such meanies! I wanted to give them each a piece of my mind, but thought otherwise every time the opportunity arose because of Gippal. Gippal would never let me have any fun! He always had to 'protect' me! He was big on infuriating me to no end.

Gippal tried to charge at the other fifteen-year-old, but I yanked him back before his spittle could even land on the cheek his opponent. He coughed an ugly sound, hacking as he fingered at his collar.

"Ha, I knew it," the other prick laughed, black hair billowing in the wind. For a snotty, air-headed, fifteen-year-old Al Bhed boy, he sure was pretty hot. He almost reveled Gippal for the position of cutest Al Bhed boy, but Gippal's golden skin and platinum blond hair won him the gold. I never told him any of this, though. Gippal was an egotistic big head and I didn't want to have to add to his ego. Besides, if I spouted my opinions about how attractive he really is to him, he'd think that I . . . that I liked him or something! But then again, I'm so glad that I wasn't a good friend with Rikya. He was probably three times as arrogant as Gippal, and five times as stupid. Ugh, I couldn't stand him, even if he was easy on the eyes! Baby blue eyes, perfectly crafted jaw and cheekbones, and pale skin that illuminated against his black wardrobe and raven hair didn't attract me at all!

"I had him in the bag! Why'd you have to strangle me like that, Kid? Now he's gonna go off and talk shit about us!" He spat at me; spinning around to face my own angered one.

"What do you care? I don't! What happened to your cool 'whatever' attitude?" I spat at him, fists shaking at my sides. I surveyed his befuddled expression and somehow softened my exasperation. "You've been so uptight lately," I said, tone softening with worry. I folded my arms across my chest and turned away from him, heading towards the metro section of the city. The streets were packed with Al Bhed, heading home from work since evening was dawning on Spira. I let my arms swing to my sides, hands balling into fists after recalling the little 'Town Square' scene I had just walked away from. I couldn't believe Gippal! Provoking a fight like that in public! What's gotten into him, lately? I was so infuriated that I could just punch somebody right then!

Someone lightly tugged at my blond ponytail, distracting my train of thought. Tiny bytes of electricity buzzed down my arms, zipping through my hands and along my fisted fingers. I swung around like a bolt of lightening and punched whoever had tugged at my hair, landing a blow to their face. Instead of punching his or her nose or jaw, as I had first intended to hit, my target was a little . . . off. Actually, way off.

Gippal landed on the sidewalk with a loud 'smack', bouncing his head off the concrete. He lay limp on the cement, eyes closed and his lips half parted. The adult Al Bhed just simply avoided his body entirely, walking around the scene I had just made. A few seemed interested, but the rest could care less. I was horrified.

"Gippal!" I shouted as I rushed over to his still body and bent down, reaching a hand out to the fine, golden skin of his face. Before I could touch it, his hand came out of no where and slapped his palm around my wrist, digging his fingers into my encased bones.

"Holy crap," he groaned, squeezing his eyes and shaking his head, "Why'd you punch me?" He took his other hand and rubbed his right eye with his thumb, gasping. "My eye . . ."

"Gippal, I am so sorry!" I cried, allowing him to squeeze my forearm, even if it pained me. I couldn't believe it . . . he . . . he couldn't open his right eye! I was so horrified that my tear ducts seemed to shrivel; that crying wasn't even an option. I only gaped at his lone eye in horror as the city whirled around us like an illusion. His one, bright emerald eye found my own terrified one. I was shivering even though it was scorching hot outside. His mouth closed, then parted again, exhaling the most beautiful yet odd words (coming from him) that he has ever spoken to me:

"I love you."

oooooooooooooooooooo

My dream shattered like a mirror, fading away into the depths of my mind again. I wasn't crying when I had awoken, but I so desperately wanted to. There was a bulbous lump in my throat again, which seemed to have not gone away all night. Gulping only made the lump more apparent, so I tried to ignore it and my forlorn dream. How could I have dreamt about that with such . . . realism? Why did I dream about that? Gippal even said it himself after that day had gone by without fail; he was being delusional because of the impact I had left on his now blind eye. He said that I had jolted his brain when his head smacked against the pavement and left him speaking delirious words. Maybe he was right, but I still can't help thinking back on that day from time to time.

He's always lied about how his right eye became severely damaged. A story that he constantly pulls through with when people ask him about it is: "I defended Cid's Kid from a viscous fiend." I laughed out loud when I first heard him talk of this 'story' of his. But . . . after a while, it was condensed to "I defended a little girl from a ferocious fiend" to "I defended a girl from a wild fiend" to "I defended some kid from a fiend." Was I just 'some kid'? He used to always include me in on the story, but now I'm just 'some kid'? I oughtta give him a piece of my mind!

But then I realized where I was. I was back on Celsius in the cabin area, shuddering from the air-conditioned atmosphere. It was always so cold in there, but the beds sure was a lot comfier than my own back on Bikanel Desert. Buddy and Brother convinced me to live on the Celsius with them until the Gippal situation had cooled down, which probably wouldn't be for a while. I didn't mind, though: I missed the Celsius so dearly. It reminded me of the good ol' days when Paine, Yunie, and I would fly around Spira, excavating spheres! Everyday was filled with laughter and excitement!

Yet it . . . disappeared, just like a sad smile. Settling down sucks. Where's the fun in that? I'm only nineteen! Where's the turning point in your life when you need it most? Sighing became a frequent activity after those happy days had ended. I visited Yunie and Tidus twice before 'settling down' on Bikanel Desert, then I never heard from them again. I never told them where they could possibly contact me, and squeezing information out of Paine would've been pointless since she knew zip as well. The last time I talked to Yunie and Tidus was about a year ago, when Operation Recreation was first in effect. I never talked to Paine after that day she left the Celsius, because really, who would want to? She had her lover, now. They all did. Where's my excitement? Where's my future hubby? Where's my meaning in life? Everything is just all so infuriating!

A month after that day on Bikanel Island, Gippal and I started seeing each other. And when I say seeing each other, I mean really seeing each other. Our first kiss was the day before he left to join the Crimson Squad. It was quick and chaste, neither special nor romantic. Those days . . . when I first met Tidus, I thought that I'd be attracted to him, but soon found that I wasn't. I missed Gippal and his body, not some stranger that resembled him (hair and skin wise). But . . . soon after the Crimson Squad separated, we began to see each other less. I was forced to break up with him before the Calm came. I thought for sure that I wouldn't make it through our battles, our obstacles, and didn't want to have to break his heart with my death. Nobody helped me come to that decision because quite frankly, I never told anyone of my relationship with him. Not even Pops or Brother knew that we were dating, and I never knew why we kept such pretenses so secretive. Gippal just said that it would upset a lot of people . . . namely Brother. Brother hated Gippal with a passion, and to this day, I never knew why.

We met in the Macalania Woods, right before our collision with Seymour. He was there on account of Baralai, trying to seek out his old companion, and somehow his research led him to Bevelle. Nooj accompanied him on his journey. It was mere coincidence that brought us together once more, but since I was on my own escapade as well, our words were chopped with haste . .

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"That's Nooj, our uh, ring leader," Gippal pointed over to the longhaired brunette, scratching the back of his neck in the act.

"I'll leave you two kids alone," Nooj suggested, turning to Gippal after nodding my way, "make it quick." With that said, he disappeared into the thicket, the woods leaving a sparkling glow in his absence.

"Gippal, I have to hurry, too," I said with sorrow, eyeing the openings surrounding us.

"Relax, not like the boogey man's gonna jump out at you," Gippal joked. I looked up at him earnestly, pouring my sad emotions into the pupils of my eyes. "Whoa, this is serious, what's up?" He asked, tone still sarcastic yet holding a hint of worry. He wrapped his arms around my small waist, pulling me closer to the warmth of his body. It felt wonderful, to be in his arms once more, but I had to push away from him. I couldn't make this anymore difficult for him or me than it had to be.

"We . . . we have to break up," I stated, head turned away from the confusion sparkling in his eyes.

He laughed after a heartbeat. "What do you mean? We're together now. After all of this has blown over we can be together again," he explained, sounding painfully rational and even more painfully clueless.

I shook my head and closed my eyes, sighing with exasperation. "No, don't you get it? We . . . I'm not sure if I'll survive this journey. And even if we do, if everyone survives it, then what about Sin? He'll just come back again and destroy everything we've come to know and love! I don't want to hurt you like that! I never want you to feel loss! Just forget about me, Gippal," I glanced up at him to catch a quick survey of his expression, and it read completely befuddled. Oh great, now I've pissed him off.

"Rikku, what the fuck are you talking about?" He started as he grabbed at the tip of my chin, forcing me to share his stare. Once our eyes locked, they never averted. "You don't have to go with them; you don't even have to do anything for them! And you are not gonna die, you hear me, Cid's Kid? Are you insane? I mean, sure, Sin might come back, but the Calm'll last at least a year or so! We'll have that peace together; doesn't that mean anything to you?" His voice was rising with each syllable that rolled off his tongue; I feared that the others would hear us.

But no, Gippal can be so clueless sometimes! I didn't answer him; I couldn't. I just kept on staring him in the eye, my own pouring with sincerity. He shook his head after another moment of silence. "I can't believe this," he mumbled, stealing his hand back and walking off into the brush. I wanted to call out his name, but my voice felt so . . . small. I just kept my chin pointed upwards. I fought the tears ready to pour and gave myself another minute or so to cool. Gippal wasn't anywhere around the site. I thought for sure he'd still be staring back at me from the shadows, but his presence was an enigma. I felt lost, but I still smiled. Nobody could know of our meeting, and hopefully they would never discover my little secret.

oooooooooooooooooooo

I plastered on a smile for the others, yet soon realized that I no longer had to plaster it on to keep it real. It was real, laughing with the others during those tragic times. Gippal was right; I didn't have to do anything for them . . . I needed to. These were my friends now, and I owed my life to them and my cousin Yunie. The loss of Gippal faded away with my adventures to come. Soon, after the Song of the Hym was sung and everyone realized that this Calm was sure to be permanent, I saw Gippal again. He smiled and called me 'Cid's Kid', just like old times. We never spoke of that day in the Macalania Woods . . . nor the day I nearly blinded his right eye . . . nor the fact that we were an item for a while, ever again! In fact, we hardly ever spoke to each other at all, but he still watched over me, like an overseer. It's like . . . we forgot about our past with each other. I haven't, and I hope he hasn't, either. It's just been sitting on a high shelf for too long, dusting with all of the other memories that we either forget or want to forget.

That dream was the beginning of a new chain of events, I could tell. I just can't believe that I've acted like such a fool in front of Gippal in the past, after the Calm arrived! When I was apart of the Gullwings, two years later, Gippal still made sure that he knew of where I was traveling . . . at first. I guess he began healing, alike I had. He'd moved on, and I'm glad.

Yet now I'm not. I want Gippal back; I want to be in his arms again. But . . . I doubt that'll happen anytime soon. This new turn of events has kept me at the edge of my seat, though. Memories, tucked away . . . I hope that I'll discover a few of yours in the coming days. What has happened to us, Gippal?

I can be so melodramatic sometimes! I guess I'm still just a curious little chocobo, head cocked to learn more! Maybe I'll see Yunie again . . . hope Tidus and her will tie the knot soon! I'm getting pretty darn impatient, I thought with comic relief, sighing as I leaned back against the head of the bed. I looked about the upper deck of the cabin room, averting my thoughts from my malicious memories. Not a thing had changed—every bed and flowerpot was in its place, but the room was dustier. Buddy and Brother had never slept in the 'girl's dormitory' since they had rooms of their own, and the Barkeep kept to his own bed, so it was no surprise that the shelves would must up with dust. Come to think of it . . . who did the dusting around here, anyway?

The upper deck was illuminated from the moon, bathing in its solar glow, while all other shadows were kept hush and mysterious. Fear always edged its way to my nerves after seeing these dark, eerie shadows, but now looking upon them again brought back cheery memories (even if they weren't so cheery at the time). Paine once pushed me into a dark corner after I expressed my loathsome feelings for the dark, and while I was afraid that a night fiend would gobble me up, I realized that I was being silly over the matter of shadow lurkers. Please, I can handle them any day! What's there to be afraid of? So I laughed and jumped out at Yunie, startling her instead. I always felt so safe, sleeping alongside Paine and Yunie, but now . . . I guess I just felt lonely. On Bikanel Island, I was always hummed to sleep by the whistling of the desert winds, yet now everything was all so silent. Only the faint rumble of the airship's motor could be heard, while all other noises were distinguished by the snore of the engine room, a faint hum of the mechanical workings in process.

What time is it? I thought, mind awake and ready for the day ahead. I read the digital clock on the side table next to me. It's only four in the morning? Ugh, maybe I should go back to sleep . . . I lay back down and snuggled into the comforters, trying to find a comfortable position on the mattress. Every spring seemed to poke into my ribs and spine and the blankets were too warm. The air around was thin and cold, but being sweaty and hot under cotton wasn't much of an improvement. I finally sat back up and sighed, tearing the covers off of my sweating legs. The cool air stung the few hairs on my legs instantly, like water rushing down your back. I shuddered but took the abuse, climbing out of bed and into the light of the moon. I only wore my orange bikini, which barely covered enough skin to be reasonable, but it was what I wore every night. A skirt and a scarf were just a touch up to be considered an outfit. I'd wear actual pants and a shirt . . . but try arguing that that'd be sane in the Bikanel Desert with an Al Bhed. Most Al Bhed will wear thin material when digging up the remnants of machina in the desert, but most wear goggles and clothing that barely covers up your parts nowadays. It's a little degrading (even embarrassing), but most Al Bhed will go to all lengths in order to be comfortable when at work.

Come to think of it . . . I don't really work now, do I? Pops keeps me alive, which is pretty pathetic in my case, but its something while I'm waiting for my life to change. I hate waiting, especially for a 'change' that'll never spring up. Maybe I should take up sphere hunting again? Hey, I could find movie spheres of Lenne and Shuyin if I keep at it! People still pay big gil for that kind of treasure! Maybe, if I'm good enough, I could live in Guadosalam or Bevelle with the rest of my friends and wait for my turning point in life to happen there . . . but who am I kidding. Opportunities arise on rare occasions, and maybe mine has passed by already.

Oh no! What if my turning point has already happened? That my adventures with Tidus, Auron, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, and Yuna were my big extravaganza and that sphere hunting was just a bonus? Look at me, I'm having a midlife crisis at the age of nineteen . . . I need to get some fresh air . . .

The bridge still looked the same. Nothing much had changed about that except for a few spheres on Shinra's old computer. He had never let me play on that by myself! Well, he's not here anymore, might as well take a whack at it, I thought, sitting down at the complicating computer. The files and spheres were labeled correctly, but the keys and buttons just confused me to no end. I steered clear of all other navigation and clicked on the sphere index, reading the labeled spheres from top to bottom. Only three others were new; Buddy and Brother must've picked them up since last we were a team. Rikya's Sphere, Zanarkand's Finest, and Gippal's Sphere was what was read upon the label. Rikya . . . haven't heard from him since I was sixteen. Bet he's still a hot, lame prick, even today! But I didn't click on his sphere. Instead, Gippal's caught my attention. What was he doing on Shinra's computer, on a sphere of all places? The description read Crimson Record, so I guess that answered my question. But . . . I thought we had gathered all of the missing Crimson Record spheres? This certainly was odd. I opened the file and watched the short with anticipation; a breath caught in my throat that I dared not exhale.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai were all sitting on the deck of an unknown ship together, reflecting on the events that had passed. Paine sat just a foot away, recording each grim face with full-on detail. They leant against a wooden post together, knees brought up to their chests with forearms resting atop them. Gippal spoke first, tone filled with bitter humor. Even at night he remained a sarcastic misfit.

"So, Nooj, you got any girls waiting for you back home?" He asked, head resting on the cool, bare wood. Nooj looked thoughtful for a moment, scratching the stubble on his chin until he rolled his head back Gippal's way.

"Actually, no. Why do you ask?" Nooj spoke with certainty, finally speaking up for once.

"I was uh, just wondering," Gippal replied, "What about you, Baralai? Got a sweetheart?"

Baralai chuckled, resting his head against the post as well as he let the moonlight shower over his body. "You know, call me crazy, but I think Gippal wants to tell us something. Do you have a girlfriend waiting for you back at home, hero?"

Paine joined in on the snicker. "I bet he's a real heart-breaker."

"Ha, you wish," Gippal laughed, "I don't know . . . she's just some kid."

"Yeah, sure," Nooj commented, head turned toward the settling sea.

"Our little Gippal has a girlfriend," Paine added, "but if she's just some kid, what are you? A pedophile?" The three joined in on a heaving laugh, leaving Gippal out in the cold to chuckle lightly.

"Ha, fine, you wanna know the truth?" Gippal asked, nodding towards each member of his squad.

"That would be a nice change," Baralai scoffed, nudging his friend.

"Let us have it, Romeo," Paine stated, zooming in on his face.

"Well, I, well, can't wait to see her again. I can't wait to defeat Sin so we can be together. Ha, this is so off character, but . . . every time she smiles, something inside of me lights up. I guess I just think it would be nice, for the rest of you dogs, to have something to go back home to like that as well," Gippal scratched the back of his head, grimacing in fear of their reply. There was a long pause.

"I was right, he is a pedophile," Paine joked, making Baralai and Nooj erupt into laughter once more. Gippal just smirked arrogantly and shook his head.

"Hey, laugh all you want, but at least there's some light at the end of my road," he told the others, standing up to go sit at another end of the ship. Once he was gone, the others just looked at one another with wary curiosity.

"Hmm . . . maybe he really is serious about this girl," Nooj wondered aloud, standing up as well. "I'm going to go check the navigation, you two sit tight." He then nodded Paine's way and winked, glancing over to where Gippal had just traveled. Baralai gave her an odd look as she recorded Nooj walking away into another segment of the ship, water abusing the sides of the ship with an explosive splash. The scene blacked out for a few moments then went back to recording when Gippal's face lit up the sphere.

"Hey, turn that thing off, I'm . . . thinking," Gippal said, placing a hand over the recorder.

"I'm the recorder here," Paine replied, pulling the camera out of his grasp. "So what's up? What's on your mind, Engineer?"

"Well, it's . . . nothing," Gippal trailed off, staring out into the sea.

"Was it that girl you were talking about before? What's her name?" Paine asked lightly, trying to keep on her toes around the subject.

"Heh, Rikku, if you were wondering," he replied, glancing back at the recorder. Long pauses stretched between the two, letting the splashes of the water settle into the background. Gippal's spiked up hair seemed to deflate from the moisture in the atmosphere, a few stray strands falling before his emerald eye. He finally spoke up once more after licking two fingers and attempting to keep the blond strands erect again, turning back to Paine in the process. "You know, I once told her . . ." He trailed off, head rolling towards the deep blue sea.

"What is it?" She asked again after he refused to continue. Gippal just shook his head stubbornly, allowing the subject to fall flat.

"Nah, I don't want to distort any image you may have of me. I'm a heart-breaker, right?" He smirked, walking away from the scene. Paine grabbed at any attempt to keep him talking.

"You love her, don't you?" Gippal stopped dead in his tracks, perspiration reeking all along his body. After a moment of deafening silence, Paine chuckled softly, "Thought so. Never imagined I'd see the day that Gippal, the Warrior Al Bhed, would tremble before his very own heart."

Gippal's nerves eased with an apparent wave of coolness, spreading along his hot body like a bucket had just been poured over his head. The tension was still there, lingering about, but you could tell that he no longer feared his words. "Don't act as if you know me so well, Paine," he said coolly, waving away her statement from before. "This . . . doesn't concern you." He strutted away like a hipster, a new pounce in his step that hadn't been there before. Paine recorded his leave as Gippal disappeared up the stairs of the upper deck, dragging his feet along with him like a tired protagonist.

"Humph, very mature of him," Baralai spoke softly, audio coming from behind the camera.

"Well, how long have you been there?" Paine asked, directing the camera to the dark man's face. It showed amusement, yet slight caution prevailed through the creases around his eyes.

"I overheard the conversation. Gippal spoke of this girlfriend before, but never with such . . . passion. You can tell he's dying to see her," Baralai pointed out, placing his hands on the curves of his hips.

"He spoke of her before? When was this?" Paine asked, poking her nose where it didn't belong.

"Ha, aren't you a curious little chocobo. Well, when we first met and introduced ourselves; after the drill, he pulled out a picture of a young blond girl, probably fifteen or so. Funny, Gippal's sixteen, pretty young to be apart of a Crimson Squad, don't you think?" Baralai trailed off into an irrelevant subject.

"I guess so, but what of the girl?" Paine replied impatiently, zooming in and out on his calm face.

"Heh, well, he said out of the blue, 'I'm gonna marry-"

"What are you two doing?" Nooj came into view, interrupting their in-depth conversation.
"It's time to hit the sack according to Gippal, turn that recorder off," Nooj informed, placing a hand over the recorder. The screen blanked out.

End of sphere.

oooooooooooooooooooo

My lungs felt tight; I hadn't been breathing at a practical rate since Gippal first spoke on the sphere. My body radiated heat despite the air-conditioned room, and I could feel my cheeks fluster a deep scarlet. Did he . . . did he say . . . marry? I thought, cold, shaky hands clutching over the breast of my heart (the only part of my body that was shivering). My jaw had dropped and I didn't even realize it until I tried to lick at my chapped lips. My tongue felt like cotton and the roof of my mouth tasted like Styrofoam. I shut my jaw quickly, trying to generate saliva again. I touched the screen of the monitor, tracing a lone finger along the label Gippal's Sphere. But wait . . . who would label it that? It must've been Buddy or Brother . . . hell, maybe even Shinra, but I doubt it. Shinra left the Celsius before I had, and Brother loathes Gippal with a passion. Could it have been Buddy? Maybe he wanted to show me it? Then again, why would Buddy care about such a trivial sphere?

Oh, I need answers! I shouted in my head, bouncing in my chair out of infuriation. Who found these spheres? It had to be somebody on this airship . . . maybe the Barkeep? Wait, that's a lousy explanation. I wish somebody would answer me!

Usually, when you wish inside of your head for somebody to pop up and answer all of your questions, somebody does. But that's just in books and fairy tales—this was the real world, more or less, or as real as it's gonna get. From then on I had to answer my own questions, and the only way to do that was to interrogate those from my past. Did Baralai really mean to say that Gippal intended to . . . marry me? I was fifteen; he was sixteen! Was he nuts? But there was no way in Yevon that I was going to bring my curiosity to him; it had to be those closest to him around that time. Yep, it was time to visit an old friend; one I haven't talked to in what seems like ages. Maybe along the way on my journey, I can even find the time to visit Yunie. I haven't exactly been avoiding her, just trying to clear my mind of its musty clouds. Why she was living in Guadosalam with Tidus, I had yet to learn of its explanation.

I wondered if Paine was happy living in Bevelle with Baralai. Quite frankly, I always thought that Nooj and her had something going on, but that proved false. Hmm, I also wondered if Nooj was still seeing Leblanc, but that didn't matter, at least in my personal life. Thinking of seeing Yunie and Tidus again brought butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Ooh, I couldn't wait! But if I was going to go on another escapade again, my old dress-spheres could come in handy. I left them aboard the Celsius after deciding that it was time to 'settle down', and hopefully Buddy and Brother hadn't pawned it off to anyone.

I stood up, the cold floor stinging my bare feet. Yep, wearing a bikini to bed was definitely not the way to go about. I padded towards the stairs until I heard voices coming from the hall right before me. I froze at the first step, hand glued to the freezing railing, afraid that whoever was there might see me. But instead of entering onto the bridge, the giggling voices faded away towards the elevator, disappearing onto another level. My nerves eased but my paranoia didn't. Who exactly was that? It sounded like three; young female voices . . . could it have been airship maids? Well finally they've decided to hire some maintenance! I shrugged off my confusion and headed up the stairs to the landing, taking the elevator down to the cabin room.

The downstairs was silent and dark, only the glasses from the bar were reflecting light from the moon, casting beams across the wooden paneling of the floor. I padded towards the stairs, finally growing cold, I realized, as my hands found their way to my arms, rubbing the goosebumps along my skin. Chattering my teeth, I picked up on giggling coming from just a few feet away upstairs into the bed area. Furrowing my brows, I poked my head up in front the top floor, crouching down onto the stairs like a devious snake.

"I can't believe that took us two days! Ugh, I can't stand Mt. Gagazet. Those Ronso are like, so hideous. I was awoken every morning by the ugly sound of that horn!" An unknown voice complained; tone stuck up with a pristine accent.

"Hey, we had to wake up to that horn, too. And we didn't even find a sphere! So much for sleeping in a tent on the cold, mountain floor!" Another strange voice contemplated, rustling the sheets of her bed.

"Will you two shut-up? We're lucky to have even found those three spheres alone. Go to bed, we have a long day ahead," a more sophisticated voice quipped, pulling the blankets nearest me over her head.

"Oh, I know! Ah, aren't the guys in those spheres so hot? Do we have to sell them?" The snobby voice sighed, lying down between the other two beds and kicking her slender legs up in the air, admiring the glow it made as the moon lit them up.

"Duh, how else do you expect us to make a living?" The lesser-snobby female pointed out.

"Still, I mean that Nooj! Oh, not him, I mean Gippal! Ooh, talk about a stud! Who do you think that bitch Rikku was, though? Taking a hottie like that all for herself!" The snob whined, dropping her legs onto the sheets of the bed.

"Linera, we've talked this over about a million times: that sphere was recorded four years ago, understand? That Gippal guy and the girlfriend he spoke of probably aren't even together as of today. Perhaps they are, but he may be single. Plus, you should respect these stranger's relationship if otherwise," the intelligent one yawned, throwing the covers off of her head to inform Linera of the probabilities.

"Hey, isn't that guy an Al Bhed? Then he should be working in that Zanarkand place, right?" The normal seeming one wondered aloud.

"Ooh, maybe we could go there! There's bound to be spheres there, right?" Linera asked, sitting erect out of pure anticipation.

"Ha, in case you haven't noticed, Lin, but most of the spheres around Spira have been wiped out ever since the sphere-hunter rush two years ago," the normal woman pointed out, jousting around in her bed until she met a comfortable position.

"Ugh, I know, I know. Those three brats take all the glory. I am so glad they left the Gullwings, giving us room to take control," the snob babbled, irritating the hell out of me. Yep, I was crouched down on the stairs for far too long. I was about to crawl and creak my way back down . . . until this Linera chick spoke up once more, pouring gunk out of her mouth with words. "I mean, hell, they were such little dorks! I never did like that Yuna—what a slut to go out of her way to find some dead guy, ha!"

Anger burst bubbles into my blood, scarlet darkening my face alike the blood of a fiend's. I threw myself up from the stairs and pointed at the harlot with burning accusation, glaring deep into the sockets of her eyes with passionate hostility. "You take those words back, you awful whore of Yevon!" I shouted, using ugly words instead of the intended, typical 'meanie'. Uh-oh, I'd blown my cover. Every girl gasped with surprise, staring at my half-naked state in utter bewilderment.

"Humph. Well, if it isn't the little brat now," Linera scoffed after recovering from the shock (seemingly have recognized me), crossing her arms across her chest. She was wearing my Thief dress-sphere, an outfit I thought I'd never be able to witness on any other's body. That pissed me off, and it was going to take all the strength I had left in me not to maul her like a wild lupus. Every drop of anger in me seemed to dribble down my chin and sizzle to the floor.

It's go time, girls, I thought, thinning my eyes to slits as I scowled, preparing to attack the 'Big Bad' one last time, just as I had done when I was apart of the real Gullwings.

oooooooooooooooooooo

A/N: . . . That was a little longer than expected. I just kept typing like a gaylord (I love that word XD) and didn't stop until I came across the perfect cliffhanger. The PERFECT cliffhanger would've included Gippal, but this was as best as I could do, sorry! Too much information in one chapter, if you ask me, and also way too many paragraphs with italics. Hope your mind isn't throbbing by the end of this ;;. I really didn't mean for everything to blow up in one chapter: the explanation for Gippal's eye, flashback in the Macalania Woods, the sphere of Gippal, and the replacements for the old Gullwings. All in all, this was a good chapter, if I do say so myself. I'm getting all of the relevant information out of the way to make room for more action wink wink and of course, the lovely Gippal and what lurks beneath his shell. In other news . . . hmm . . . school's gonna blow for those who aren't being home-schooled, since I will be (come September 1st off of an online program!). I loathe those 'back to school' commercials; they're horrible. Kids do NOT want to be reminded of prison! It's like advertising old-folk-homes to aging people: "Here's what you have to look forward to! Pills in the afternoon and Bingo 'til bedtime! In other words . . . it's a new age HELL, everybody! Bring your kids!"

P.S. I should clarify the flashback between Rikku and Gippal in the Macalania Woods. This was after Nooj shot Paine, Gippal, and Baralai (depending on where the others were in FFX), and after the others had recovered from their injuries. Nooj had apologized that his actions were not of his own, blah blah blah, I'll talk about it later in future chapters. At times, you may discover that some of my information is false, but who's perfect? Don't worry, though, I'll try my damndest to try and stick to the essential facts of FFX-2. Also, the title of this chapter refers to Wakka; I hope you all remember! Sorry for such a long author's note! You're a combatant if you've read this entire story, down to my excruciating notes!