Chapter One
That Day
Part One
If someone had asked her to describe how she felt in that moment when Tidus came up to her on the banks of the Moonflow, she wouldn't have even known where to begin.
First, there was relief. Relief that this guy was safe and sound and not floating around dead in the sea somewhere. Also, relief that she was finally free of that damned constricting wetsuit. She looked at the discarded article of clothing with disdain. I'll just be leaving you here on the ground for the scavengers, thank you very much.
Second was confusion. Why the hell was he here, of all places? She figured he would've stayed on in Luca or something like that.
Third, was severe and utter annoyance. Thanks for the minor concussion and internal bleeding, buddy.
"Rikku?" Tidus said incredulously. "You're Rikku! Wow! How you been?"
Shaking her head and then wincing from the pain the motion caused, she stuck an accusing finger in Tidus' face. "Terrible!" she lamented.
"Yeah, you don't look so good," Tidus said sympathetically. "What – happened?"
Rikku let out an exasperated grunt. "You beat me up, remember?"
Tidus' blue eyes widened in recognition. "That machina? That was you?"
"Ouch," Rikku moaned to herself, checking her arms and legs for any bruises or lacerations. "That really hurt. You big meanie." She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him, because, really, that would have been totally immature.
Rikku looked over Tidus' shoulder and saw a group of people walking toward them. She recognized the Summoner immediately. Yuna! Her eyes stayed focused on the girl, amazed at how beautiful she had become over the past few year.
"Friend of yours?" a thickly accented voice behind Tidus asked when he spotted the girl. Rikku turned to see a tall, extremely well built man with flame red hair. There was something about his face that was familiar to her.
Weird, she thought to herself, and shook her mind clear. It was probably nothing. After all, she had thought Tidus looked familiar too, when she first met him. Like this guy that she had known a year ago ... this guy who had ... Her body involuntarily convulsed at the memory:
"Vilg! Cred! Chappu! Chappu!" she screamed, making her way through the mass of bodies lining the Djose shore.
"Rikku, hu!" her brother cried out, trying to grab her arm and hold her back. Rikku shrugged him off and continued running toward Chappu.
Tears filled her eyes when she reached him, barely holding on. She dropped to her knees beside him. "Chappu, yna oui ugyo?"
He just looked at her. His eyes were impossibly blue. Never before had she seen eyes so blue. The only other person since then had been Tidus ...
Rikku was too young to see this ... and yet here it was. She was just barely fourteen, and she held his head in her lap while he died.
"Chappu ... E's cunno ... E's cunno ..." she whispered over and over again.
With his last bit of strength, Chappu reached up and touched Rikku's face softly. He managed a small smile. "Shh," he told her, his voice ragged. "Don't cry for me, little one."
Rikku bit her lip and tried like mad to do as he said. But it wasn't any use. Chappu had been the first Yevonite she had ever known who had treated her like a real person, even after knowing that she was Al Bhed. He had sat with her on several evenings, and they would talk about their families. She had loved hearing about his life back on Besaid with his big brother, and his beautiful girlfriend, and Yuna.
"My brudda's da best guy in Spira," he used to tell her. "I would never tell him dat, though!" he would laugh.
Now he wouldn't get a chance to.
"Ur, Chappu ..." she whispered. "Kuutpoa."
She looked down at him, and her heart broke as she watched his eyes glaze over. He seemed to be staring somewhere far off into the distance. "Lu, I'm sorry," he whispered. And then he was gone.
She sighed and turned her attention to externally. It was never a good idea for Rikku to spend a lot of time internalizing things. Instead, she treated Tidus' friend to her famous million-megawatt grin.
"I'm Rikku, nice to meet ya!" she said brightly. Wakka gave her a funny look, like he wasn't quite sure what to make of her. Rikku took that as a good sign.
"Yuna, Lulu, I told you about her, remember?" The two women nodded at Tidus. "She's an Al Bhe – bhe ..." He trailed off, remembering that certain members of their group weren't exactly fond of the desert race.
Rikku looked at Tidus, puzzled, and she followed his nervous gaze to the red-haired man. Ohhh, she thought. So, he's one of them. Oh, well. I've hidden my race several hundred times before. What's one more? Too bad, though. Something tells me lying to him isn't going to be fun. She gave him a quick once-over before turning away. Sighing, she shrugged and turned her attention back to the Summoner.
"Yunie!" she said. Yuna smiled in her direction, with a look of faint recognition. Rikku rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's me. Rikku. Cid's daughter!"
Yuna's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, my! Rikku!" She turned to the men in the group. "We need to talk," she said in her gentle voice.
"Okay," the Yevonite said jovially, and made a move to walk toward them.
Rikku jumped before him, all bouncy energy and blonde hair. "Girls only! Boys, wait over there!" she said with a wave of her dainty hand.
Lulu smiled apologetically at Wakka. "Sorry," she said. "Just give us a minute."
The girls talked for what seemed like forever to Sir Auron. He was growing impatient ... He knew what was coming; he just wished they would hurry it along.
Finally, Yuna turned to him and smiled her sweet and imploring smile. "Sir Auron ... I would like for Rikku to be my guardian."
Five terrifying minutes later (Rikku hated being stared down by stone-cold men who wielded blades bigger than she was), it was official.
"Well I'm all for it," Wakka said optimistically. "The more, the merrier!"
Rikku just smiled in his Yevonite direction. "Well, then I'll just have to be the merriest!"
No one in the Summoner party thought about the explosion that could be created by combining two very volatile subjects – a pure-blood Al Bhed princess, and a devout Yevonite.
Part Two
Six guardians. Six. That was, in his estimation, the largest Summoner party ever. And, looking at her, he wondered how much of an asset she would actually be. She was a little slip of a thing, really. About eye level with his bicep, which was bigger than her thigh, he might add.
Someone like her could get crushed very easily by any number of fiends. Sighing, he spun his ever-handy blitzball on one finger. If Sir Auron didn't have a problem with it, then he supposed he should just shut up about it.
Something about that girl was unnerving to him though. Her eyes ... they seemed to know a little bit too much. He didn't trust people who knew too much ahead of time. He preferred to learn as he went. That annoyed Lu. It annoyed her a lot. Grinning, he turned to the black mage.
"Hey, Lu," he said. "What do ya think, eh?"
Lulu arched an eyebrow. "About what?" she asked coolly. Some people might find Lulu a bit frigid, but Wakka knew better than anyone else what she had been through. He was used to it, and really, it didn't bother him. It was just Lu. And Chappu had loved her ... and so he did too.
But always, in the back of his mind, he wondered if there wasn't someone out there who was actually meant to belong to him and only him, and not Chappu. He didn't like thinking these thoughts, but sometimes, he just couldn't help it.
Chappu had always been perfect, and he had always had everything. He'd been great at everything he'd done. Women loved him, men envied him ... but Chappu had no faith. And Wakka knew in his heart of hearts, that that had been his downfall.
So after that day, Wakka had made a solemn vow to himself, and to his brother, and to Lu, and Yuna too, to be the most devout of all Yevonites. And to never forgive the damned Al Bhed and their cursed machina.
He was completely unaware that the last face his brother had ever seen had been that of a young Al Bhed girl, one who had cried for him and held him in her young arms, and who had worn his blood on her clothing as she stumbled back to her own family, hours later.
"Wakka!" Lulu's voice snapped him back to reality.
"Oh, sorry, Lu," Wakka said sheepishly.
"What were you asking me?" she pried, more gently this time.
"Oh! I was just wondering what you thought of da little bit over there," Wakka said, nodding in the young blonde's direction.
Lulu managed a small half-smile. "She's a happy person," she stated. "I think this journey needs that."
"Hey! I'm a happy person too, ya know!"
Lulu sighed and rolled her eyes. "She's different, Wakka," she said, shaking her head. "I can't explain it to you." She went to walk beside Yuna and the two of them were soon in a deep conversation.
Wakka glared after she had left him alone. Tidus was walking up ahead, talking animatedly with Rikku, who giggled at something he said and looked back at Yuna with a knowing smile. Sir Auron and Kimahri were bringing up the rear.
They reached Guadosalam just before sunset. "Wow, this place is ... amazing," Rikku exclaimed, admiring the way the ground of the city seemed to glow from within. "I've never been here before," she said honestly.
"I thought you'd been all over Spira," Tidus asked her.
Rikku blushed. "Yeah, well, this is a Guado city ..." she said slowly.
Lulu nodded knowingly. "Of course. You would have had no reason to come here unless you were on a pilgrimage," she said quickly. She shot Tidus a pointed look.
Wakka eyed Lu suspiciously. She had jumped in pretty quick there, hadn't she? Then another thought came to his mind. "Say, Rikku," he said.
She turned to him, face lighting up because he was actually acknowledging her existence for the first time since the Moonflow. "Yeah?"
"Why have you done so much running around Spira, anyway?" he asked her.
She looked down and shrugged, and traced invisible shapes in the ground with the toe of her boot. "My family likes to travel," she muttered lamely.
"I think maybe ... that's enough questions for Rikku," Yuna said quietly, in her unassuming way.
Wakka shrugged. "Just tryin' to get to know her a little better, ya?" he grumbled.
Rikku flashed him a quick grin. "There's really not much to tell," she told him. "My Pops is a restless sort. Doesn't like staying in one place for too long. Not since Mom died." Her eyes grew sad, and Wakka immediately felt like an ass.
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry, ya?" he said quickly, scratching the back of his neck.
Lulu laughed to herself. He only did that when he was nervous. Did Rikku make him nervous?
"It's okay," Rikku replied quietly, fiddling with one of her braids and not quite meeting Wakka's gaze.
Lulu frowned. Rikku seemed a bit nervous, herself. She made a mental note to keep an eye on the situation.
"We'll stay here tonight," Sir Auron decreed as they entered the city.
No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than Tromell Guado, Maester Seymour's loyal assistant was before them. "Lady Yuna, it is a pleasure to see you again," he said in his nasal tone. "If you'll please come with me ..." He took Yuna's hands and began to lead her away from the group.
Wakka immediately jumped between them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Wakka cried, blitzball at the ready. He kept Yuna back by placing one arm out in front of her.
"Oh, I apologize," Tromell said quickly. "Maester Seymour wishes to speak with Lady Yuna. You, of course, are all welcome to the manor."
Wakka lowered his arm and looked back at the rest of the group. He noted that Rikku, for one, did not look thrilled at the prospect of dining with the maester. But then again, neither did Tidus.
Yuna forced a smile. "Of course we'll come with you!" she said brightly. She turned and nodded at her guardians, leaving little room for argument.
Rikku and Tidus brought up the rear of the group. "I don't like Maester Seymour," Tidus told Rikku in a conspiratorial whisper.
"I don't like any maesters, period," Rikku countered sourly. Tidus laughed at her. "It's not funny," she remarked. "Yevon is ... well, it's bad news, that's all I'm gonna say."
Part Three
"He asked me to marry him!" Yuna exclaimed, face bright red.
They had just met with Maester Seymour Guado in the dining hall of his manor.
Tidus was the first to comment. "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.
Wow. He's pissed, Rikku noted. She looked around at the other guardians. She noticed that Sir Auron looked extremely annoyed and anxious to move on. Her eyes swept past him, to Lulu, who looked shocked. It was the most emotion Rikku had seen the older girl show thus far.
Her eyes moved past Kimahri, whose features were unreadable, and landed on Wakka. He looked like he didn't know what to think. Sighing, she skipped over to where he stood. "Whatcha thinkin'?" she asked him in a low voice.
He looked at her, surprised that she had approached him. "I dunno," he muttered, feeling his face heating up, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. "It seems a little strange."
Rikku nodded. "Well, maybe if she gets married she can just quit her pilgrimage!" she said brightly.
Wakka's head shot up and he glared at the girl standing before him. "What da hell kinda thing is that to say, huh?" he asked.
Rikku's brow furrowed. She didn't understand why he was getting so pissed. "Well, I mean ... you know what happens to Summoners ..." she mumbled.
"You sound like a damn Al Bhed," Wakka spat at her. He did a complete about-face and walked away from her in a huff.
Rikku was crestfallen. She had just been trying to make conversation ... Gathering her resolve, she stuck her chin up. Vilg oui, Wakka, she said to herself, promising herself that that was the absolute last time she'd ever let him in ...
A/N: Okay, here it is ... chappie one of something I like to call the DEPARTURE. R&R PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! I know this is unconventional and untraditional, but I just HAD to do it. The plotbunnies were chewing my ears off. lol Ewww ... nevermind. Also, BIG thanks to Avelera for letting me bounce ideas off of her and forgiving me a bunch of really good ones to incorporate! She'll recognize the ones she suggested! Thanks again!XDAnyway: Al Bhed Translations, for those who may need them:
"Rikku, hu!" "Rikku, no!"
"Vilg! Cred!" "Fuck! Shit!"
"Chappu, yna oui ugyo?" "Chappu, are you okay?"
"E's cunno." "I'm sorry."
"Ur, Chappu ...Kuutpoa." "Oh, Chappu ... Goodbye."
"Vilg oui, Wakka." "Fuck you, Wakka."
Hope that helps. Any other Al Bhed I use in the following chapters of this fic, I will place the translations down here, in my author's note. Enjoy! Until next chap Rhianna XD
