Yeah, sorry about all the new characters, but the only important OC here will be Leije. nudge, nudge, wink, wink Also, I know Rikku is a bit OOC, she's SUPPOSED to be x.x. That's kind of the point of the story, Gippal helpin' her get back IC >.-
And sorry about everything being so confusing, just rememeber the other characters are uberly confused too. Maybe this chaper will help clear everything up? prays that it will
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Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. sob
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"Well?" Paine interrupted the ongoing silence.
Baralai gave his old friend an odd look. "Well what?"
"What happened afterwards?"
"..Nothing," the praetor responded.
"Nothing, eh?" Tidus sighed. "So basically, you and that camera guy jumped into the hoover and got the hell out of there?"
Baralai nodded. "Her little...friends were looking quite murderous," he added as an afterthought.
The room fell quiet again while everyone was left with his our her own fears and doubts. Yuna eventually broke down, voicing her own thoughts out loud.
"That's a fake," She let the words sink in. "It's not Rikku... That-that couldn't have been her! What the hell is going on...?!" Tears started to well up in her eyes; she hated being so alone and confused. She hated being left out in the dark.
Tidus stared at Yuna, eyes shining with love and empathy and genuine concern. "Yuna, be calm. I'm positive that Rikku is fine," he whispered to her.
"Well, she's got a whole lot of explaining to do," Paine stated in her usual I-don't-give-a-damn monotone voice.
Leblanc sauntered over to Yuna and sympathetically patted her on the arm. "Well, love, maybe someone close to the girl could explain everything,"
"I thought I was close to her, Leblanc, but apparently I was wrong," Yuna hissed back at her, anger and confusion overriding reason.
Nooj cleared his throat, causing Leblanc to forget Yuna's comment and Yuna's anger to dissolve. With everyone's attention focused on him, he spoke: "I'm sure Rikku is a very nice girl, but we don't have time to worry about her. There are more important matters to attend to."
"Huh?" Wakka looked confused, but silenced himself almost immediately. Nooj scared him and he didn't know half of these people very well.
"Rikku is currently being charged with vandalism," Baralai responded to Wakka's lost puppy look.
"Vandalism?" Yuna asked incredulously.
"Vandalism of the machina on the operation site. I've sent Lieje to take her into custody, since she has met him before, and may be easier to cooperate with."
Glancing around the chamber, Baralai's eyes fell on Gippal, who had been attempting to inconspicuously exit the Screening Chamber. Gippal had stopped to listen to the latest news, drawing unwanted attention to himself.
"Where you off to?" A faint smile curved on Paine's lips.
"No where," he stated a little too quickly. "Say, uh, Baralai, how ago did you send that guy to Macalania Woods?"
"A few hours ago, I believe. Why?"
"Ah, nothing. I would have loved to see the look on Cid's girl's face when she hears of the charges," Gippal grinned. 'If she's even the same girl,' he silently thought to himself.
"...Cid!" Tidus sneered, oblivious to the previous conversation.
"What?" Yuna and Paine simultaneously asked.
"If anyone kenw what was going on with Rikku, it would be Cid." Yuna just stared at him. "Uh, he's her father..." Tidus reminded her, recieving an 'Oh yeah!' look from Yuna.
"I can hook up a CommSphere to the screen, if you'd like," Baralai offered, eager to be helpful.
"That'd be great, we really should contact him... I wonder if he knows that we've located his only daughter?" Yuna wondered out loud.
"Oh, yes, and Gippal, I'd like you to stop by the operation site and take a look at the machina. I hope that they aren't beyond repair..." Baralai may as well have been conversing with a wall, because Gippal was long gone.
---
"I told you already, I am not going with those greasy, nasty engineer people, and I am not going to face any 'charges'," Rikku sneered and leaned against a branch, smugly resting atop a tree.
"..." Leije remained silent for a second. "Look, did you or did you not destroy our machina?" The man was clearly exasperated.
"Well no duh, I did. Who the hell else would have bothered?" On a side not to herself, she whispered, "Actually, Synea and Mihyn did most of it..." She glanced up past a few trees; the two girls were currently hiding and spying on them. Sighing, she returned her gaze to the man. "I've got a lot on my mind right now, so back off."
Leaning against a tree opposite to her, the man looked faintly concerned. "Is it about your cousin, Lady Yuna? Or praetor Baralai?"
"..Not exactly."
"Well hey," Leije grinned and sat down, still leaning on the tree, "I'll listen." This produced a snort from Rikku.
"No, seriously. Just think of me as your.. Uh... psychologist,"
"Oh, I see, so now I'm a nut case?" She smiled in spite of herself.
"Well, I was under the impression that you were Al Bhed..." Normally that comment would have really gotten under her skin, but now...
"I thought I was..." She whispered.
"I'm listening," Leije looked up at her.
After nearly two years of hiding out in Macalania Woods and keeping everything inside with no one to confide in, Rikku nearly burst with joy at the prospect of sharing her experiences with someone. After all, she really wasn't one to act antisocial, or at the very least, shy. Rikku found herself pouring her heart out to this stranger, who would listen instead of talk, commend instead of chastise.
"Well, first of all," her eyes glittered, "I'm not really Al Bhed."
---
"Why would I know what's goin' on with my missing daughter?" Cid said, his face projected onto the screen. "I haven't spoken with her since-"
"Her official disappearance," Yuna quickly finished, in an annoyed tone. "You've said that nearly five times now." She had explained the contents of the sphere to him several times, but her uncle merely brushed off all questions and feigned ignorance. But because of the look on his face, and his nervous disposition, Yuna could sense that there was something vital that he wasn't telling them.
Silence.
"Enlighten us, Cid. We know you know," Paine glared at the screen.
"Know what?"
Paines eyes just narrowed more in response. A staring contest ensued between the two for a few minutes before Cid broke down.
"In the name of Home, that girl coulda stared down Sin himself and sent him runnin' back to his mama." Cid shivered. Solemn-ing up quite a bit, the Al Bhed leader lowered his voice. "I don't know much, but what I do know could prove useful. Y'see, Delila, my wife, and I adopted the girl when she was just a wee bit over three,"
"Bull," Yuna interjected, her voice frantic. "My mother was there when she was born, I remember visiting, growing up with her..."
Cid examined his niece carefully. "That wasn't the same little girl, Yuna."
---
"You were adopted?" Leije's eyes widened, he seemed interested; Rikku noted how immensely green his eyes really were.
"Not just adopted. I was a replacement," her voice dripped with venom. Leije waited for Rikku to continue; when she didn't, he urged her on.
"How did you find out you were adopted? I'd take it that Cid didn't just sit you down one day and explain it to ya."
Oh, did she remember! Rikku would never forget that day, not in a million years. It was almost like she was there now...
Her mother had been dead a month now. A whole month, thirty never ending, empty, meaningless days. Her siblings were coping well enough, but she wouldn't move. Her daily activities consisted of sleeping, her father forcing food down her throat, and more sleeping. Cid had been extremely worried; he had never seen his little Rikku so down before. She had always been his lovely cheerful little angel. But, she had mentioned wanting to see her mother one last time...
So there they were, sneaking into Guadosalam, stopping at the entrance to the farplanes. Her fifteenth birthday was only a couple days away, and this was his gift to her. Rikku was as excited as she was devastated, as nervous as she was calm.
The two entered the circular area, gazing out into the hazy sky, the trembling waterfalls.
"Think of your mother," Cid whispered into Rikku's ear. And so she did, her mother's form appearing above, floating in the dead air. But another figure appeared, for Cid's own thoughts had drifted to someone long gone.
In the mother's arms was a little wiry girl, swirling green eyes and a mop full of blonde hair. The mother hugged her, tickling the three year old child, causing her to giggle.
The girl looked exactly like Rikku.
The older Rikku turned to stare at Cid with wide, startled eyes. "Who is that?" She whispered. When Cid made no move to answer, she pushed him further. "Did I have a twin, pops? ...Did she... die?"
"Rikku, Rikku, Rikku..." Cid leaned against the railing, sighing and staring at his deceased family. "Hun, I want to be straight up with you, truthful, no more secrets. That," he pointed to the happy little girl," Is my first daughter. My real daughter. Her name was Rikku... She died in an accident involving complications with a machina and a sandstorm." The man grimaced. "We adopted you and named you after our dead daughter. As a replacement," he added quietly.
---
"I can't believe you told it to her like that," Yuna commented distantly.
Cid looked annoyed. "Yeah, well, wha'd you expect?"
Paine had a look of concern in her eyes, which were usually devoid of emotion. "How'd Rikku react?"
Cid merely shrugged. "How any teenager would have, I guess. She basically screamed that I lied to her, that I was a horrible father, that she hated herself, that she was nothing, and so on. She left Home shortly after that, leading some godforsaken excavation near Baaj temple," Cid finished up.
"And so she met Tidus..." Yuna muttered, mainly to herself.
'No wonder she didn't want to enter the farplanes,' Tidus thought, remembering Rikku's comment: 'Memories are nice, but that's all they are.' How would the others have reacted, seeing a little girl with the same face as Rikku, floating above them in the farplanes?
"But wait." Tidus spoke. "How is it that she looked exactly like your old daughter?"
Cid didn't respond immediately, he wasn't exactly sure how that had happened. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, allowing old memories to consume him.
It was their anniversary, Delila and his. After the traumatic death of their daughter, Rikku, Cid's wife had begged him to get away from Home for a bit. The two had reported their daughter missing, but Delila had refused to acknowledged that her daughter was actually dead. Because of this denial, they had yet to publicly announce the death of their only daughter.
Anyhow, Delila had repeatedly requested to visit Macalania Woods, a holy and sacred place, almost completely disconnected from the majority of Spira. There they were, walking along the silver path, up through the Prussian trees. The two held hands, exchanged a few words, but were mainly left with their own thoughts.
Then they saw her.
She was curled up, eyes closed sweetly, back lying against a giant, glowing moonstone. The child had a remarkable likeness to-
"Rikku...!" Delila dropped Cid's hand and stumbled towards the sleeping child. As Delila wept and hugged the little girl, who's eyes snapped open, Cid noted that she wasn't quite the same as their old little girl. But then - Pyreflies swarmed around the child, and into her body. Her silver eyes turned green, her curled hair fell limp.
Delila turned to face Cid, clasping the child like it was her lifeline. "It's Rikku, honey," she sobbed.
Cid looked extremely uncomfortable. "Rikku is dead."
"No, no, don't you see? We found her, now we can report that she's been found, she really has, she has... Oh Rikku, my baby, my darling..." Delila stroked the girl's hair, tears streaming down her face.
She never admitted, or believed for that matter, that Rikku was not her real daughter. Not even on her dying day.
---
"So, you don't know who your real parents are?" Leije casually asked Rikku.
Rikku just laughed, no humor in her tone. "I have no real parents. These," she waved her hands all around her at the trees, "These Woods gave me life, and they can just as easily take it away. I was born here, to replace someone, because the forest pitied her. My mother."
Leije remained quiet again, for a moment. "So the other three of those, uh, flying chicks, they were born from the forest too?"
Rikku rose an eyebrow. "...Yes."
Leije laughed. "You know, I heard from Baralai that you were a cheerful gal. Fun-loving, playful, a bit immature at times, but always full of energy. Not exactly the brightest girl in Spira, but-"
"Your point...?" Rikku cut him off.
"Well, you might want to be cautious when you get reacquainted with your cousin, and whoever the hell else. They may not be ready to accept this... Uh, 'new' Rikku,"
The girl rolled her eyes and snorted. "Oh, thanks, I'll lock that awa-"
"C-Cid's girl..?"
Rikku froze. She turned around to face her old crush, best friend, and tormentor all rolled into one.