Disclaimer: FFX, FFX-2 – neither of them belong to me, I'm just a poor, starving fan : )
A/N: Can't believe I'm actually updating on time – I've sat 5 of my A Level exams in the last week (for all you non English people out there, those are the exams you take in the final year of high school – before uni) so it was very stressful … but hooray, because all my exams are over now! So I can devote all my time to writing : )
Further notes at the bottom (I don't want to give away anything in the chapter) and I hope you continue to like the combinations of thoughts/actions that monopolise my chappies. Oh and I also hope that you like the way Rikku's character is developing – I tried to explain why she was feeling so despondent in the first few chappies and I hope that came across.
I was intending to dedicate each chapter to a different reader but seeing as I got rather more reviews than I expected … this is dedicated to EVERYONE who reviewed the last chapter!
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rikku's Story
By: JoeyStar
Timeframe: Set a month or so after the 'happy' ending of FFX-2
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chapter 2
I know I said that I was going to 'make a stand' and 'have my say' but to be honest, my story actually began by accident. What happened in the corridor ... well it certainly wasn't how I would have chosen to start the next chapter of my life, you know?
Wait … what did that mean? Has something happened? All I can remember is talking to Yunie and Tidus and then …
Wait.
Just thinking about Yuna and Tidus has made me realise something. Neither of them actually chose what happened to them. Tidus certainly didn't choose to be pulled from his own life into a Spira that appeared to be a thousand years further on than his. If memory serves, I think that was Auron's choice – though I'm sure he had his reasons. And Yunie? Well, she did choose to search for Tidus but she certainly didn't set out to defeat Vegnagun, you know? There was even a point where she could have stepped away and let Baralai and Nooj deal with the mess that their fighting had created. But Yuna's sense of duty makes her choices for her, time and time again. I don't think in the beginning she really wanted to sacrifice herself to save Spira … but it was her duty, you know? It sends me cross-eyed just thinking about it – thank Spira I don't have a similar sense!
Or do I?
How do we really know how we're going to feel until we're pushed into situations beyond our control? Like facing Sin … or Vegnagun … I could have walked away. I don't think it was duty that kept me by Yuna's side. She was cousin and I couldn't desert her – though I tried my hardest to get her to change her mind. Honestly, that girl has a will as hard as a Mandragora's hide! I didn't have a chance.
Perhaps that's why I resorted to kidnapping. Hmm … I don't think she was very happy about that. There were … words exchanged – it wasn't pleasant.
So if it's not duty then what is it that drags me into these situations, again and again? What is it that always makes me the first to dive into any dangerous situation? I can't deny that it fills me with a certain amount of excitement and it keeps life interesting – but surely there's more to my decision than that? Surely I'm more than just a shallow, thrill-seeking person …
There's something wrong. I feel … I feel like I should be doing something. That something … something important has happened and I should be somewhere else. But I just can't seem to concentrate …
Duty? I was thinking about duty … no, not duty. Duty doesn't drive me. If I had to choose one emotion that seems to shape my destiny – and I would never admit this to Yunie and Paine; they'd laugh themselves sick – it would have to be … love.
Ironic. I was thinking about the earlier … wasn't I?
Yes – yes I was. About love and – and … tyssed (dammit) why can't I remember?
Why do I feel like my thoughts are disintegrating? What was I – oh yes. I think I've worked it out. Why I do what I do – and why I've done what I've done.
Wow, try and say that ten times fast!
Why I do what I do and why I've done what I've done.
Why I do what I do and why I've done what I've done.
Why I do what I do and – ow, my brain is starting to hurt …
It's because I want to protect those I care about. Those I love. Sappy but true, you know? I feel more alive when I'm protecting other people; when I'm doing something that really matters. Like fighting Sin, beating Vegnagun and finding Tidus – if that quest wasn't fuelled by love then I don't know what was.
Rikku, the hopeless romantic. I wonder what the others will say when I tell them?
The others … Yunie and Tidus, Lulu and Wakka … did they come to the party? Party ... what party ...?
I think I've just figured something else out. Why I've been feeling so – so strange recently. The answer to all of Yunie's concerned looks. To that question I know Tidus asked me … if only I could remember what it was …
I've lost my sense of purpose.
Spira isn't under threat anymore – the planet doesn't need a protector. Yuna has Tidus to look after her and besides, she isn't a Summoner anymore so she has no need for Guardian, you know? And Lulu has Wakka – and baby Vidina. Kimahri has the Ronso. Nooj has the Youth League; Baralai New Yevon. Even – even Gippal has the Machine Faction …
… But I don't have anyone.
Anyone? I didn't mean that – I meant anything. I don't have anything. Anything to do, I mean. I have plenty of people in my life. I don't need anyone else.
"Rikku?"
Is someone calling my name? That's strange – I thought I was asleep, you know? Asleep – but wasn't I at a party?
"Rikku! Ur Spira ubah ouin aoac! Open your damn eyes Rikku!" (Oh Spira, open your eyes)
My eyes? My eyes are shut? I must be asleep then, otherwise why would my eyes be closed? How strange; to be asleep and yet at a party … was it really that boring?
"Rikku!"
The shout, so intensely threaded with anguish and pain, drew my mind away from the hazy thoughts that had been consuming it and back towards reality.
And the pain that awaited me.
It was … I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. It felt like a thousand knives were digging into my chest and when I twisted slightly, feeling confused and frightened, the pain only intensified.
"Rikku?" A hand touched my face and I flinched, my head throbbing as it knocked back against something behind me. It hurt to move; it hurt to breathe – heck, it even hurt to blink, as I found out when I forced my eyes to open.
My first terrified thought was that I was blind. Darkness hung over my vision for several long moments but just as I was about to close my eyes in defeat, pinpricks of colour penetrated the midnight curtain and slowly, painstakingly slowly, began to form into a recognisable shape.
"You're alive. Thank Spira. I thought you were gonna leave me hangin' here."
The relief in the voice was palpable and the hand gently pushed back a lock of hair from my burning forehead. I tried to pull away but whoever this stranger was, gripped my shoulders. "No – hold still. I don't know what internal damage the explosion might have done to you."
Explosion? There had been an explosion? But hadn't I been at a party?
Heart racing, pounding in unison with the throbbing pain in my chest, I urged my eyes to focus and peered desperately up at the person who had probably saved me life.
"G-Gippal …?" I broke off, gasping for breath; my chest feeling like it was on fire. Through blurred vision I watched helplessly as he bit his lip and ran his hands through his short, spiky hair, eye dark and unreadable but body tense with worry.
"O-Oui'na rind …" (Y-You're hurt) I whispered, staring up at him. It was true; one side of his face was dark with blood and as I watched, a droplet slid down over his eye-patch and fell to the floor.
"Ed'c hudrehk," (It's nothing) he dismissed it, wiping his chin with one gloved hand. "I'm more worried about you. Now stop talkin' and just – just give me a second."
It wasn't as if I had a choice. The sour thought rose up inside me and for one fleeting moment I wondered why it had to be Gippal who had found me. Of everyone in Spira it had to be him … the pain was increased the number of uncharitable thoughts that I directed at the other Al Bhed, when I knew deep inside that I should have been thanking him.
He held his hands over my chest and I tried to follow what he was doing but I found that I couldn't move my head far enough to see. What I did catch was the familiar blue light that emanated from all types of restorative potions and a moment afterwards I felt the cool liquid on my bare skin.
"Better?"
I tried to take a deep breath and found that indeed, the pressure on my chest had lessened. It was still painful to breathe and my head still felt as if a Chocobo was doing a tap-dance inside of it, but the dark edges of my vision was clearing. Gippal must have used a powerful healing concoction and as I stared up as his bloodied face I slowly began to remember everything that had happened.
"You saved me," I murmured. "You pull me away from the bomb."
He ran a hand back into his hair once more, winced and then pulled it back and studied it. His palm was wet with blood. "Could use one of those babies for myself." I think he meant whatever potion he had given me.
I was sure of it now. "You saved my life." I steadied myself and then slowly pushed upwards with my elbows until I was in a sitting position. From my new vantage point I was able to take in my surroundings and what I saw made my blood run cold.
The hallway in which we had been standing, arguing, bare minutes before, had been blown apart. One wall had completely disappeared underneath a pile of rubble and it was this that I was leaning against, having been thrown there when Gippal had pushed me out of the path of the bomb. The utter devastation showed me how lucky I'd been and when I looked up at Gippal again, I found myself trembling with emotion.
I had nearly died in this hall.
He must have sensed something from my gaze, or perhaps he just felt the same because he knelt down in front of me and pulled me into his arms without hesitation. I buried my head in his shoulder as dry sobs shook my body and he stroked my hair comfortingly. It never once occurred to me that this was Gippal, my arch-nemesis. At that moment he was the only one who understood what I felt. He was the there and he could offer me comfort. He had saved my life and for this brief moment I could forget that I was supposed to hate him.
"Dryhg oui," (Thank you)
His response was to draw me closer. It was nice, having someone to hold me and not judge my actions. The last person to do that had been my mother and she had died a long time ago. I had missed this kind of closeness with a person … even if that person was Gippal.
After several long moments, when my tears had finally dried and we became aware of our compromising position, we both pulled back. I met his single brilliant eye, feeling suddenly uncomfortable and shifting on my rocky carpet.
He opened his mouth to speak but at that moment I suddenly remembered something that had being eluding me since I had awoken.
"The party!" I clapped my hands over my mouth in horror. "Oh Spira! Yunie – Tidus – Brother! My friends … they're all in there!"
Ignoring the lingering pain of my injuries, I scrambled to my feet but paused as the world swam before my eyes and I swayed dangerously. Gippal seized me by the shoulders and peered down at me. "Slow down Rikku."
"Slow down? Cmuf tufh?! Yunie's in there! She could be – she could be – " (Slow down?!) I tried to twist out of his grip. "Let me go!"
"Rikku – just listen –"
"No! Let me go! I have to go to her – I have to help!" I looked up at him, anguish in my eyes. What if Yunie was … I couldn't even think about it, let alone say it aloud.
"Rikku. Rikku!" His fingers tightened on my shoulders. "They already have help!"
"What?" My protests died on my lips.
He relaxed fractionally. "The explosion – it was a good hour ago. Rescue teams have been tendin' to the others since then."
"How … how do you know that?"
He thrust his chin at the huge pile of debris which blocked the end of the corridor that led back towards the party room. "Spoke to someone through there."
"Then why -?"
He anticipated my question. "The corridor's blocked from both ends – thanks to the wall that collapsed. We're trapped here."
"But Yunie – "
"I don't know," he looked away, touching the blood on his face absently. "I was worried about you and …"
Gippal? Gippal had been worried about someone other than himself? He had been worried about … about me? I couldn't help voicing my thoughts, a strange feeling stirring inside me that had nothing to do with the pain in my chest or the severity of our situation.
He shrugged carelessly. "Of course. I'd be worried about anyone that a damn wall had collapsed on."
I don't know why but at that moment, I wanted to hit him – wound or no wound. Any sympathy – any compassion I had fleeting felt disappeared when I looked up into his smug, mocking face and I resisted the urge to knee him where I knew it would hurt.
Stupid, arrogant excuse for an Al Bhed –
"Hey," Gippal's attention was anywhere but focused on me. While I had been illogically plotting his grisly death, he had moved away from me. Now he was a couple of metres away, squatting down in front of a pile of rubble. Interested despite myself, I edged closer and peered over his shoulder, wondering what it was about a pile of stone that had ensnared his attention. "Look at this."
Swallowing back the acidic thoughts that, just recently, had been rising all too easily to my mind, I watched as Gippal eased something out from underneath the wreckage. He blew on it, clearing the fine layer of dust that had settled on everything after the wall had collapsed. I narrowed my eyes speculatively and leant so close that my tangled braids fell against his cheek. He glanced up at me, his single eye gleaming. The eye's liquid depths caught my attention and I glanced back ... and promptly forgot what he had called me over for. He held my gaze steadily and for several long moments, neither of us moved nor spoke.
Then, as if waking from a dream, he shook himself and coughed awkwardly. I felt my cheeks burning and I pulled away, pretending to inspect a long dark gash on the back of my left hand. Gippal hurriedly bent forward again and pick up the object of the floor before he spun around on his heels and showed it to me.
I was still confused by what had just happened and I stared dumbly at the object he was holding out to me.
"You wanna take a look? Or do you wanna just stare at it until it turns to stone?"
His languid comment jarred me out of my bewilderment. "I'm not a Basilisk," I said witheringly, snatching the object and turning it over in my hands. "I can't …" I trailed off as I realised just what I was holding.
"Yna oui ehcyha? Drec ec y pusp!" (Are you insane? This is a bomb!) I gasped, fearing to throw the bomb away in case it exploded but worried that if I held it any longer I would loose an arm. Damn Gippal and his lack of concentration!
"Namyq," (Relax) he said, far too casually for my liking. He took the bomb back from me and turned it over, revealing that the bottom half had already been blown apart. It was obviously one of the explosives that had caused the destruction all around us and unwillingly, I conformed to Gippal's suggestion.
"How d'you know it was a bomb?" he asked me.
The question struck me as ludicrous and I almost reiterated my earlier comment about his questionable sanity. Instead I reigned my irritation in and settled on giving him a scornful look. "It's a bomb," I stated, as if talking to a child.
"But how did you know it was a bomb?" he persisted, waving it at me.
I batted the broken bomb out of my face. "Any Al Bhed would know – " I broke off, as he nodded vigerously.
"Any Al Bhed," I repeated my words slowly, comprehension dawning. "Gippal – this bomb … it was made by an Al Bhed!"
"Well give the girl a golden Chocobo," he drawled, with little of his usual token humour.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Do you believe in luck? Or fate? Are you one of those people who believes that our lives are predestined from birth and that we don't have any choices about what happens to us along the way?
I believe in luck. I've been told time and time again that I've got one of those happy-go-lucky personalities. Living for the moment, you know? Getting as much out of life as possible … because you never know when someone's going to snatch it away from you.
Tidus is a lot like me in that respect. I wonder if it's because he knew that he was living on borrowed time – or maybe he was just born that way. I suppose it all depends on when he found out who he really was … and I still haven't asked him that.
Luck was with us that evening. Perhaps whoever decides these things had finally determined that – after everything everyone in that room had been through – we all deserved to have a little luck on our side for once.
You see, while Gippal and I were trapped in the corridor, discovering to our collective horror that the bombs that had caused so much destruction were of Al Bhed origin, the rest of our friends were being transferred to a room in the temple, where a number of New Yevon Priests and White Mages were waiting to tend to them.
It must have been a miracle … because no one died.
Yunie, Paine and Baralai were the worst injured – I think they were all close to the wall when it collapsed. Seeing them lying there, on those plain white beds, so still and pale … it was hard, you know? Even after everything we've been through, nothing so serious has ever happened before that couldn't be fixed with a Phoenix Down and a Hi-Potion. But then again, none of us had ever been caught in such an intense explosion before.
Everything was such a mess.
I remember sitting next to Yunie's bed and just watching her as she slept. Everyone else was there; Nooj and Leblanc were sitting by Baralai; Tidus was talking to Wakka and Lulu while nursing a bandaged arm; Brother and Buddy were talking to Paine; but I felt completely alone.
And very angry.
Who had done this to us? Who had decided that our lives were like pieces of machina, to be left in broken pieces? Who had wanted to hurt my family?
A hand touched my shoulder, breaking me out of my uncommonly serious thoughts and I looked up to find that Gippal was standing behind me. And for the first time in years, I didn't shy away from his touch. In fact, I had to resist the urge to move closer to him. I was upset, angry and confused and yet, when I looked at him, everything seemed a little easier.
"We have to find out who did this, you know?" I found myself telling him earnestly.
"Yeah," he agreed easily, reaching out and ruffling my hair. I slapped his hand away automatically, but there were weary grins on both of our faces when our eyes met again. It seemed as if an uneasy truce had finally been reached between us.
"Detective Rikku to the rescue," I joked.
"Lieutenant Gippal reporting for duty," he said solemnly, his smile gently mocking me.
I blinked in surprise. 'You'd really help me find out who's behind this?'
'You have to ask?' he raised his eyebrows and then shrugged at my sceptical look. 'You have to ask. Well Baralai and Paine are two of my best friends – and I like Yuna too, you see so – yeah, why not?'
"And this is an Al Bhed problem," I pointed out reluctantly, wondering what the implications would be, seeing as the bomb was undeniably of Al Bhed manufacture. Spira knows what the media's reaction would be when they found out!
"There is that." His gaze was direct and serious. "You know who people'll blame. Even without the bomb as evidence."
Flashes of memory danced before my eyes; the charred ruins of Home; Wakka's reaction when he had found out I was an Al Bhed; the hatred of the Yevonites. Though everyone in Spira was supposed to be equal it seemed that Al Bhed couldn't escape persecution, even now.
It really sucked, you know? And I think that's what ultimately made me stand up and take control of the situation. My people were not being blamed for this. I was going to prove their innocence!
And as much as I wanted to stay by Yunie's side, she had Tidus to look after her. She didn't need me – and neither did Paine, or Baralai … or any of the others for that matter. I could do a greater amount of good elsewhere and besides, hadn't I been waiting for something like this to happen?
Was this going to be my story?
I wasn't about to wait around and find out. It was time to seize the moment myself. Somehow had to find out who had been behind the attack, so why shouldn't it be me?
Patting Yunie's hand and whispering my goodbyes, I stood up and moved away from the bed, looking back at Gippal at the last moment. "Well? Aren't you coming?"
He started, probably surprised at the change in me. But I didn't care. The old sparkle was back in my eyes and I felt seventeen again, despite the weight of this new situation. Isn't it funny how the worst of situations can often bring out the best in people? I hadn't felt this alive since we had faced Vegnagun and as I paused in the doorway to look back one last time at my friends and family, I realised I had found what I had been missing.
I had purpose again.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
I just wanted to say that yes – I predictably didn't kill anyone. But that was not simply a cop out. The reason behind that was I killed off a main character in one of my other stories and I got a very mixed reaction. Also I figured that with the invention of the Phoenix Down, actually dying in Spira is probably very difficult … and besides, this story is not about death, it's about Rikku. Killing someone so early on would have just caused too many problems – but I needed the explosion to happen so … BANG!
Please read and review!