Messages from an Echo

Cute-kitty2: Lulu has to stay and care for little Vidina, silly. ;p

Gippal nd Rikku x3: No, it's actually because I somehow keep missing completion points (even with the game guide -) and have played through the game like twelve (exaggeration) times by now, but hopefully the game that I'm in the middle of will finally take me to 100%.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Drinks are on me. ;p This chapter will take us into the past a bit so you can gain a better understanding of the events occurring before Gippal's little departure. Also, in case you don't realize this, Rikku is speaking to Yuna when she tells her story. I thought that would make sense. Considering Yuna spoke to Tidus who was the main character in X, Rikku will speak to the person who was the main character in X-2. And because I forgot to mention it earlier, I own zip, zilch, nada, nothing. Um… yeah, so again please review! Even if you have constructive criticism or whatever, I'll love you anyway.

! Crystal

Chapter Two

Trouble in Paradise

You'd had Tidus back at your side for close to a year. The two of you were near inseparable, and I'll tell you now that I had been a little jealous. He watched over you as he had before. He would always be your guardian, but sometimes, I guess, love can blind a person.

When you told me of the news, we'd been at your new home in Besaid.

I'd always regretted letting you leave the Gullwings, but who was I to stop you?

Rikku watched her cousin reveal her excited news. Apparently, during one of the digs in a newer and previously unexplored region of the Bikanel Desert, an underground temple had been dug up. The Machine Faction was already hard at work in excavating the entire premises.

"Will you go with me?" Yuna asked, her eyes brightening as she clasped her hands together and eyed the younger blonde with anticipation that would be hard to refuse. "It would be like the days when I flew with the Gullwings!" she exclaimed, hopping in place. "Come on, Rikku!"

Rikku smiled, a slight color rising to her cheeks. The Machine Faction, it would be an excuse to see Gippal again. Her feelings she'd held for Gippal during her childhood had been reignited during the incident with Vegnagun, and ever since then she had always jumped at every chance to see him. Plus, an adventure had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Nodding eagerly, Rikku shared a grin with Yuna. "Of course!" She took Yuna by the hand and began pulling her off towards where the airship had been docked. "Let's go!"

Yuna laughed. "Rikku, wait," she quipped. "Let me bring Tidus, won't you?"

Rikku dropped Yuna's hand and faked a pout. "If you have to," she replied sarcastically. Everyone knew that Rikku loved Tidus, but not in the way Yuna did. Rikku would never admit that she'd had a crush on the sandy haired and foggy minded blitzer at first but that was only because he'd reminded her so much of someone else. And it wasn't as if she still thought of him that way; Rikku had grown to love Tidus as a brother, and she would go as far as to wish that he had been her real brother all along. He'd make her a better brother than Brother did; that's for sure. Rikku was thrilled to have Tidus along on their little adventure.

Yuna spun around, and Rikku watch her jog off in the direction of the beach. Tidus was likely to be there blitzing with the Auroch's. It was something that he still liked to do. Ever since he returned to Spira, he'd said that it was what he loved most, next to Yuna of course.

Before Yuna had wandered too far, Rikku ran ahead a few paces. "Meet me on the airship?" she called out. Yuna answered with a nod and a wave.

Rikku smiled sadly at her cousins fading form. She had believed then that in that moment she should be happy, excited, but for some reason Rikku was feeling something other than those two emotions. She was lonely, and she wanted someone for herself. Yuna and Tidus had each other, but who was she left with?

The three of us wasted no time in leaving on the airship with the rest of the Gullwings.

Unlike you, Paine has continued to travel across Spira with the rest of us. Buddy and Brother were still a part of the crew, Barkeep was around as always, and Shinra had returned just a few weeks before hand. You were the only one left to rejoin us, and I'd hoped that this little adventure would remind you of how great the days of YRP used to be.

Rikku bounced about the bridge. Yuna had just informed everyone as to what their plans were. They would head for D'jose. The buried temple was probably a secured area of the desert, and they had all agreed that the Faction wouldn't allow access to just anyone. So heading to the Faction's headquarters at D'jose was their best bet. Gippal would most likely be there, and he would give them the okay.

"Rikku," Tidus called, eyeing her with a twinkling eye, "I don't know when I remember seeing you this excited. What gives?" He dashed across the bridge to where Rikku had hopped and playfully gave her a jab in the stomach.

"No one," her voice rang in a somewhat singsong tone, and she suddenly realized her slip up. "Oh, uh, I … I mean nothing! … Tysh." Rikku's head swung in Yuna's direction, her eyes pleading with the older girl not to say anything.

Yuna grinned as her gaze shot toward Paine, who was standing opposite her on the bridge, her hand resting on the wall of the airship. Paine's ruby eyes lit up slightly at the chance to tease Rikku. "Oh sure," she droned, and strode towards Tidus and Rikku. Glancing over at Tidus, she smirked. "Rikku's fallen for the leader of the Machine Faction."

Rikku's jaw dropped, and she swatted at Paine with both arms. "I do not!" she whined.

Tidus laughed, catching on to the game. "What Rikku's in love?"

"No!" Rikku shouted, jumping up and down like a frustrated child. "That's not even what she said!"

"Uh huh," Yuna raced over, nodding her head repeatedly. "She has been for quite some time now."

Rikku's three friends were cornering her, while Brother sat there, trying to figure out who it was they were talking about. If his sister was running around with some … He stopped, suddenly frozen and spun around to face the group. "GIPPAL!" Anger rose to his face. It would have been bad enough for him to witness the show between Yuna and this… Tidus jerk, but now his sister has been gallivanting with, of all the rotten guys, Gippal? It was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. "RIKKU!" He tried to spit out words of rage and disapproval, but all that left his tongue was an aggravated shout. He stormed off to another part of the ship, readying to sort out this new development in his head.

Everyone watched after Brother with raised eyebrows, but Rikku just shrugged off his reaction. She looked from Paine, to Tidus, and then to Yuna. "Come on," she urged them, "you're making this bigger than it is!" She stomped her foot. "Can we please just drop it?"

Yuna sighed and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "Okay, if it means that much to you, Rikku, we'll give it a rest." Paine nodded once in agreement, and Tidus simply shrugged his shoulders. Both of them backed up a few steps and gave Rikku some more breathing room.

"Oh gee, thanks," she told them all sarcastically. All this teasing was making her quite uneasy. Was she really that easy to see through? If Yuna and Paine had managed to see through her and read that she had feelings for Gippal, had he been able to do the same?

Before she was able to contemplate this any longer, Buddy interjected her thoughts. "D'jose Temple, we have arrived," he announced loudly.

---

The sounds of crunching metal and loud, chattering Al Bhed tongues could be heard all throughout the area as the group crossed over the bridge and into the temple clearing. Tidus' eyes glanced about the place with wonder. It was his first visit to D'jose since his return to Spira.

"Wow," he breathed, jogging ahead a few steps. "This place has really changed too." Coming to a stop, he shuffled his foot and kicked up some dirt clouds in the process. "Everything in Spira is so … different," he declared and turned around to look at Yuna. "Are you sure I'd only been gone for two years?"

Yuna nodded, a small smile gracing her face. "Yes, I'm sure," she told him and skipped to his side. Walking next to Paine, Rikku watched her cousin and the way she and Tidus were looking at each other. The compassion that he held in his eyes, it was unmistakable, and it was directed only at Yuna, as if she were the only person left in the world. Yuna slipped her arm around his and gave his hand a squeeze. He smiled, interlocking his fingers with hers.

An uncontrolled puff of air escaped Rikku's lips, and she raced ahead of the couple. She put on a happy façade when all she really wanted to do was sulk. "Last one inside is a rotten egg!" She shouted over her shoulder.

For a brief second, Tidus remained at Yuna's side, but only for that brief second. Unable to ignore Rikku's challenge, he dropped Yuna's hand and grinned at her before dashing off after Rikku.

Yuna laughed at their display, shaking her head. She was about to rally Paine into chasing after them when she felt someone take hold of her arm. Turning immediately to see Paine's outstretched arm, Yuna looked to the expression on her friends face. Paine wasn't smiling, and a look more of concern had risen in her eyes. "What is it?" she asked, the smile fading from her own face.

"It's Rikku," Paine answered poignantly. She'd not only seen the quick display between Yuna and Tidus, but she'd witnessed Rikku's reaction to it as well. "Something's up. She's being fake about this. There's something else going on in that crazy head of hers." Yuna simply nodded. She hadn't seen it herself, but she believed Paine and would keep an eye out for Rikku.

Suddenly, loud shouts rang out as Rikku, who had won the footrace, crashed into two Al Bhed guards at the temple doors. Tidus, unable to stop himself either, slammed into Rikku and started a domino effect that would result in a tangled mass of all four bodies on the ground.

"Hu uha ec ymmufat du ahdan," one of guards declared, trying still to block their entrance, "Gippal's untanc!" [No one is allowed to enter, Gippal's orders!]

Rikku scrambled to her feet. "Forget Gippal's orders!" she exclaimed, pushing past him. "Tu oui ghuf fru fa yna?" Flipping her nose in the air, she scoffed at the guard and pulled open the temple door, hoisting herself quickly inside. [Do you know who we are?]

"Yeah," Tidus nodded firmly, pushing himself to his feet, "what she said!" His Al Bhed was still a little rusty; he thought Rikku had asked for directions to the nearest bar, but he knew that he had to have been mistaken. Tidus hurried inside after Rikku before the guards could compose themselves and stop him.

Inside the temple, Rikku gasped at the madness that was ensuing. No wonder Gippal hadn't wanted anyone to come in. They'd probably get killed. An unbelievably large machina was thrashing around the temple, destroying everything in sight – the architecture, the machinery, even the people.

As the machina hurled a young Al Bhed man through the air, Tidus jumped backwards. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. Reaching out to her, he tugged on Rikku's shoulder. "Rikku, what's going on?"

"I don't know," she replied nervously as her eyes scanned the room for Gippal. Parts of the temple walls were littering the ground, and the staircase that led to the higher levels of the temple was completely destroyed. There wasn't one of the Faction's gadgets in the room that hadn't been damaged. People lay strewn about on the ground, moaning and groaning.

"Hey, Cid's girl!" she finally heard someone shout. Her gaze flew in the direction that the familiar voice had come from. There she saw Gippal, clinging to the back of the machina and attempting to cross its wires to deactivate it. "Feel like lending us a hand?"

Rikku cocked her head to the side. By now she'd gotten used to the fact that Gippal simply refused to address her by her name, but she was puzzled about something else. It wasn't like Gippal to ask for help, especially not from her. Nevertheless, she ran up to the machina, readying herself to jump into battle.

"Hey wait!" Tidus called out to her as he quickly joined her. "Rikku, you know that we'll be fighting this thing alone, right?" He jumped in between the young blonde and the huge machina. "There's no way that those guards will let Yuna and Paine in here after us."

"Gippal will help," she told him confidently. "We'll be fine."

Raising an eyebrow, Tidus watched the young Al Bhed man jump down from the machina. So this was him; this was Gippal. He hadn't yet formed an opinion on the leader, but Tidus was simply ready to criticize. Rikku was extremely close to him, and he didn't want her ending up hurt. But he also realized that this wasn't the time to dwell on matters of the heart, there was a battle to be won. Pulling out his sword, Tidus leapt in front of the machina.

Standing just behind him, Rikku switched to her warrior dress sphere as Gippal reached her side. "How did this happen?" she shouted at Gippal over the noise of Tidus' sword slashing metal, once her transformation had been completed.

"Long story," Gippal replied, his volume equaling hers, "let's save it for later." He lunged at the machina once Tidus' attack had finished. However, the machina had managed to counter Gippal's attack and threw him back. Gippal's body hit the temple wall, which cracked under the force. A chunk of the ceiling came loose and pounded his head. A short strand of his blonde hair slipped over his eye patch as he slumped to the floor, now unconscious.

Rikku glanced over her shoulder at him and groaned. "Oh, Gippal," she muttered, "you do need help. You always have." She tossed a Phoenix Down in his direction, and within moments he was back on his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

"Thanks," he muttered, about to rejoin the battle when the machina attacked Rikku. She flew in the same direction he had.

"Aieeeeeee!" she squealed, kicking her legs. The force of the machina's blow had sent her hurtling straight for Gippal, who in turn held out his arms to catch her. Unfortunately, the task wasn't as easy as he had hoped.

Rikku landed in his arms, but her momentum had caused the two of them to fall back against the rubble. Gippal, seemingly uncomfortable, slid his hand off of the bare skin on the back of Rikku's thigh that he had so unintentionally reached for. "What are you waiting for?" he demanded. "Your friend can't handle this thing alone."

For a split second, Rikku questioned the way Gippal had said the word friend. It was almost as if he was jealous. But no, she must have misheard him. Scrambling to her feet, she nodded hurrying back toward Tidus with Gippal following close behind.

Unleashing a chain attack on the machina, Tidus stabbed it and Rikku swung her own sword at it directly afterward. It seemed to be weakening. "Just a few more hits!" Rikku cheered.

Gippal gave the machina one last shot with his bullseye attack, and it crumbled to the ground. "Yeah!" he shouted in self victory, kicking the pile of metal parts. He winced slightly as his toe began throbbing, but he wasn't about to let Rikku and Tidus know it. Crossing the temple floor past Rikku, he scratched the back of his head.

He counted himself lucky that she had shown up, but he wasn't about to let her know that either. Rikku was a funny and touchy subject with him for reasons that lay buried in their pasts. He'd left her as a girl, a best friend to him, and when he'd seen her after his return from the crimson squad, he'd been amazed. She'd developed into a young woman, and he wasn't so sure of it but Gippal developed an attraction towards her.

His gaze slid back to her. She was facing the other young man, someone he didn't recognize, someone he'd hoped wasn't romantically connected to her. Was he really hoping that? He didn't want to, but somehow, he was.

She looked so powerful in her warrior uniform. This was his first time seeing her dressed in it, and he was ready to declare it his favorite. The warrior costume didn't show nearly as much skin as many of her other dress spheres, but he felt drawn to it. Catching her rear view, he eyed the skin on her upper legs that he had been touching just a short time ago. He wanted to touch it again.

Gippal shook the thoughts from his head. He had things to attend to. The temple was falling apart at this strange machina attack, and his people, the rest of the Faction, needed attending to. As he went to them to distribute potions and healing aids, he addressed Rikku and Tidus, "So what brings you to D'jose?" He posed a guess, "Interests in the buried temple at Bikanel?"

Rikku spun on her heels to glare at Gippal. She couldn't believe how quickly he had moved off of the subject of the out of control machina, but most of all she couldn't believe that he'd neglected to thank them for their help. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but Tidus spoke before she got the chance.

"Actually, yes," he said, casting a sideways glance at Rikku before approaching Gippal. He bent down next to the eye patch wearing blonde, who had been hovering over an unconscious, young female Al Bhed. Tidus pulled a potion out of his back pocket and handed it to Gippal. "I'm Tidus, by the way," he said.

Gippal stood, and Tidus rose as well. The grasped each other's hands and shook firmly. "Gippal," he gave his own name before releasing Tidus' hand. "So, are you Rikku's new love interest?" he asked, winking at Rikku over his shoulder.

"No!" Rikku ran over to the pair. "Tidus is with Yuna," she told him quickly before any more damage could be done to the situation, before Tidus could say anything regarding her feelings for Gippal.

Gippal's eyebrows raised, his one visible eye seeming to light up. "Ah," he began, "so, this is the famed guardian, this is the man from Zanarkand a thousand years past whom the high summoner fell in love with, whom she went on a quest to find, whom –"

Rikku gave Gippal a shove. "Quit it! It isn't that big of a deal," she interrupted. "Besides, we came to talk about the desert temple, remember?" Placing a hand on her hip, she eyed Gippal, awaiting a response from him.

"Right," Gippal said with a nod, "what about it?" Again, he scratched the back of his head.

"We want to go," Rikku told him, rolling her eyes. "Yuna's outside right now. She wants to see it."

"You know," Gippal started, "I've been meaning to go see it too. Things around here have been so busy that I haven't gotten the chance yet." He moved across the room to attend to another of the fallen Faction members before continuing. "So what do you say about you helping me clean up around here, and then we'll all go."

Rikku scoffed at him, wrinkling her nose. "What do you say about no?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Clean up your own mess."

Gippal gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine then," he said with his back to her as he moved on to helping another Al Bhed. "Good luck getting into the temple area without me. It's a highly protected area."

Rikku's eyes narrowed at his back. "We had no trouble getting in here, did we?" she shot her words at him, anger and frustration evident in her voice.

She felt someone take a hold of her elbow and looked to see Tidus, giving her a warning stare. He then spoke to Gippal, "I think we can help you here."

Gippal turned his head to the side and winked. "Glad to hear it," he announced with a victoriously smug grin.

A Message from an Echo

I know, sucky ending to the chapter, but it was getting long and I wanted to move on. - This chapter, I know, kind of sucked, but most of those towards the beginning transition chapters do. I for one can't wait til I get to the fun parts of the story. ;p

! Crystal