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2. Suspicion Starts

"Yunie!" Rikku cried as she saw her cousin for the first time in about a year. After Tidus and Yuna's wedding, Rikku went back to Bikanel to help rebuild Home with Gippal and her father and built her own home there. She always had the thought to go visit them in Besaid again, they were only an airship ride away, but she figured they were doing mushy love stuff and she didn't want to get in the middle of that. She ran over and tightly squeezed Yuna until she felt she wouldn't be able to breathe anymore.

"Rikku…Rikku, Yunie can't breathe." Yuna and Rikku both giggled as they separated and Rikku jumped into Tidus' arms.

"Hey, Rikku!" He said as he lifted her off the ground with his embrace. "How've you been?"

"Eh, can't complain." Rikku blew off her previous week's emotions as she hugged Yuna again. "Oh, I've missed you guys so much! We can't go that long without seeing each other ever again, okay?""

"Be careful, Rikku," Tidus said as he separated Rikku and Yuna slightly.

"That's right! The baby!" Rikku squealed as she bent over to look at Yuna's pregnant belly. Yuna was just over eight months pregnant, so how Rikku didn't notice it when she hugged her was beyond Tidus' comprehension. "Aww! When is she going to come out so Auntie Rikku can spoil her?"

"It could be a boy too, ya know, Rikku," Yuna said as she placed her hands on her stomach and Tidus put his arms around her.

"No, it'll be a girl, I just know it." Rikku slightly bounced on her toes in excitement as she thought of how she's going to have a new baby to play with in just a few weeks.

"Well, Vidina wants it to be a boy," Tidus said as he moved his hand up and down his wife's back.

"Yeah, so do you and Wakka, don't deny it," Yuna teased. "You just want to be able to teach him how to play blitz. You do know that if we have a girl you can still teach her to blitz, right?"

"With your luck, Tidus, she'll want to be a magic girl and have nothing to do with athletics," Rikku said as she tapped Tidus on the chest. Tidus nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, probably. But that would make her Aunt Lulu happy," Tidus replied and Yuna gave him a questioning look. He saved himself by adding on, "and it would make her daddy proud, too!"

"This baby is going to have a complex with how many relatives she's going to have," Rikku said as she thought about it. "She's not going to know who her real relatives are and who her 'real' relatives are. I mean, she's going to have an Aunt Painey, Uncle Baralai, Aunt Lulu, Uncle Wakka, Auntie Rikku—"

"Wait, Rikku. If you're Yuna's first cousin, wouldn't that just make the baby your second cousin?" Tidus asked as Rikku stopped bouncing and scrunched her nose.

"Oh boo," Rikku said as she thought about it. "I think you're right. However, I still want the baby to call me Auntie Rikku. Can she?"

"Sure," Yuna said with a chuckle. "She or he will call you Auntie Rikku. But you gotta give it time."

"Can't we just force her out?" Rikku said as she gently poked Yuna's stomach.

"Rikku!" Rikku whipped around as a familiar voice said her name. She almost froze when she recognized that it was from Gippal, who was running toward her. It had been almost a week since they had broken up and this was the first time that he had even acknowledged her existence. "Rikku!"

"Hey, Gippal!" She said as friendly as she could with a wave. As much as she loved Gippal, she knew that she couldn't be anything but friends with him for the time being. Maybe some time in the future something could happen but she didn't think she could handle that right now. Gippal the friend, I'm all for it…They had so much of a past and she never wanted him to regret anything that happened. Except maybe that one time where he wanted to see if he was stronger than me and I kicked him across the room. He started it!! She giggled as she remembered the look of shock on his face. He told her not to hold back, and she didn't.

"Hey," he panted as he reached her. He slightly bent over and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ya know, for running around as much as you do in Bikanel, you're out of shape," she giggled as she patted him on the back.

"Hey, Yuna and Tidus, what's up?" He asked as he put a hand up in welcoming. He was still hunched over, so Yuna and Tidus couldn't help but laugh at him. "Just give me a minute, here."

"That's fine," Tidus said as he shook his head. "It's nice to see you as well, Gippal."

"Hmm, Tidus," Yuna said, tapping her husband and pointing at Gippal. "That's how you and Wakka have looked the last few times you've come back home from practicing blitz. And you wonder why Lulu and I get worried?"

"We're out of practice that's all!" Tidus said as he put his hands up in defense. "Besides, we just look at it as two overly emotional pregnant women worrying over nothing."

"Wait!" Rikku gasped as she comprehended what Tidus just said. "Lulu's pregnant again too??"

"Yep," Yuna said as Rikku let out another squeal.

"YES!!! More little children to corrupt!" Rikku threw her hand up in the air and started to dance back and forth.

"That's a frightening thought," Gippal said with a chuckle as he stood up. "That's all we need, more of you running around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rikku said defensively as her smile instantly turned into a frown. She crossed her arms over her chest and started to tap her foot. Yuna and Tidus just looked back and forth at Rikku and Gippal, sensing tension so thick that Tidus' Caladbolg couldn't even cut through it.

"Cid's girl, relax, it was just a joke." He said as he ruffled her hair. Rikku didn't give up the way she stood.

"Hmph. I have a name." Rikku snapped and Gippal scoffed.

"Um, Tidus, let's go check into our hotel," Yuna said as she pointed in the direction of where the Luca Suites were.

"G—Good idea." Tidus said, sensing that this conversation was not the right spot to be in right now and they started to walk off.

"I'll see you guys in a bit," Rikku said cheerfully toward them as they waved, then she turned her icy glare toward Gippal again. "Okay, look. I know we broke up. That doesn't mean that you have to treat me the way you always do!"

"Rikku, you haven't freaked out over that nickname since we started to date, so why change now?" He asked her as she fixed her hair from when he messed it up.

"Things are…different now." She said quietly as she looked down at her fingers. A loud beep came from Gippal and she jumped. "What was that?"

"My wireless communication device," he said as he reached in his pocket to grab it. "It's Nehl from work. I wonder what he needs. He knows not to contact me on this trip unless it's an emergency, so this better be good. Hold on a second."

Rikku sighed impatiently as Gippal took out the device, walked a good ten feet away and started to talk into it. She crouched down and started to play with the rocks that have begun coming loose from the cobblestone street. She watched as an ant crawled over a stick and through the grooves as she tried to overhear as much of the conversation as she could. Unfortunately, she heard mostly static from the device and Gippal mumbled too softly for her make much out.

"What do you mean?" She heard Gippal cry out. She looked over at him and he had his hand on his forehead and Nehl spoke louder.

"Rikku…here…looking…you," was all she could make out. Huh? She thought as she stood up again, hoping she could hear more. I'm right here!

"What did you tell her?" Gippal said through clenched teeth. What is going on? Rikku thought as Gippal looked over at her. He faced away again so Rikku couldn't hear the reply that Nehl gave him. "Oh cred. Look, whatever, I'll find her and deal with it. Bye, man."

"What was that all about?" Rikku asked as Gippal placed the communication unit back into his pocket and walked toward her. The fact that she clearly heard her name made her even more curious and suspicious about why Nehl would try to contact Gippal.

"Nothing. Uh, forget it," he said as he slightly fidgeted. Rikku narrowed her eyes at him and he scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I, um, gotta go. I'll see ya later, okay?"

"O…kay…" She said slowly as she watched him leave. At first he walked slowly then sped up his pace until he was at a full out run. That boy just keeps getting weirder and weirder…She thought as she walked toward the inn where Yuna and Tidus were staying.

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"Oh cred, what am I going to do now?" Gippal said out loud as he leaned against a brick wall in an alleyway. He rested his head against the cold brick as he looked up at the blue sky as he tried to think of his next move. "If someone discovers her, I'm done for! It was just an experiment! I didn't think that it would actually work…"

With a loud sigh, he walked away from the wall and started to search the city of Luca for his experiment that was on the loose.