Disclaimer: FFX, FFX-2 – neither of them belong to me, I'm just a poor, starving fan : )
A/N: Heh – it's ironic that in my opinion the last chapter was the weakest so far because you guys apparently disagreed. I got the most reviews ever – something I'm VERY happy about, don't get me wrong, but I'm also kind of puzzled. It seems that the worse I write, the more reviews I get … something's wrong with that conclusion. Hehe : )
Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write and I'm a lot happier with the way it turned out. Hope you like the character of Lreav, whose name incidentally means something specific in Al Bhed. A cookie for whoever works it out first.
This chapter is dedicated to miyazawa kano for giving me a completely honest review that really made me think about my writing. Enjoy.
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Rikku's Story
By: JoeyStar
Timeframe: Set a month or so after the 'happy' ending of FFX-2
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Chapter 5
As we stepped onto Gippal's airship, I think the word that sprang instantly into my mind was … Wow.
Not that I was ever going to tell him that.
Back when Brother and Buddy had first rolled up in the Celsius the same word had jumped to my lips. You can't imagine how amazing it was to see this huge red motorbike appear out of the sky. Even after travelling on the airship for Yunie's pilgrimage, I had never seen anything like the Celsius before.
Gippal's airship blew the Celsius out of the water. Where the Celsius was huge, obtrusive and incredibly noisy, Gippal's was the complete opposite, you know? It was sleek and streamline and I knew without having to ask that it would be able to outstrip any other airship in Spira. It reminded me of a silver swan even though it was intended for air rather than water. The craftsmanship was unusually subtle for an Al Bhed craft and I wondered how it had come into Gippal's possession.
"Where did you get this from?" I asked him, staring in rapture at the smooth lines and graceful curves off the craft. It was like no machina that I had ever come across before and my fingers were itching to play with the controls of such a ship.
He laughed at my expression. "It's just a little thing I run to get me from place to place."
I frowned at his nonchalance. "It's a bit more than a 'little thing'. Besides, I don't remember ever pulling anything like this up from the ocean."
"What d'you mean?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" I affected an airy attitude. "Two years ago, while you were slumming around in the desert, I was working on a salvage ship. You'd be amazed how much technology was simply waiting for us on the seabed; left over from the Zanarkand war."
"Not this baby." Gippal patted the wall of the airship affectionately. "She's one hundred percent Machine Faction born and bred."
I rolled my eyes in mock exasperation. What was it about men that made them treat machina like little sisters? Honestly, Gippal acted warmer towards his ship than he did towards me – a living and breathing female! And it wasn't as if I had horns or something …
"D'you want to fly it?" he offered casually.
My eyes grew as round as Sphere Break coins. "Can I?" I winced at how eager I sounded. Relax Rikku, I told myself, you're not thirteen anymore.
He smiled and slapped a hand on the door control, revealing the spacious bridge. A number of Al Bhed turned at our entrance though they relaxed when they recognised Gippal. I began to feel very self-conscious as several curious gazes were turned upon me.
"Rikku, this is my crew."
I received a few nods of greeting but none of the interested looks faded. I couldn't help noticing that all of Gippal's crew were male. I wondered how long it had been since they'd seen an actual woman.
"Rikku's the daughter of our illustrious leader Cid," Gippal continued. A murmur passed through the assembled Al Bhed and they quickly turned back to their respective jobs. Apparently my Dad's name still carried weight.
Ignoring their reaction, Gippal strode towards one of the Al Bhed, who gave him a lazy salute when we stopped in front of him. His appearance was mostly concealed by his clothing but I could still see his mop of brown hair and merry green eyes.
"We ready to go, Lreav?"
The man folded his arms across his chest and shrugged. "Considering you didn't give me much time, I've done my best."
"I thought you'd finished the upgrades?"
Another shrug. "Just about. You were asking for the latest developments."
"True."
Lreav cast a glance over his shoulder at the other Al Bhed technicians and then drew Gippal out onto the gangway outside the bridge. Curious, I followed them.
"What's going on Gippal?" Lreav asked bluntly once we were out of earshot. "I know you don't like these celebratory functions but by my reckoning, you've got another few weeks in Bevelle yet. The Lady Rikku too. So what are you doing here?"
I beamed at him – he'd called me a lady. It was more than Gippal had ever done and I found myself talking an instant liking to this Lreav.
"Someone attacked the party," I told him, feeling that he should know the truth. "Several bombs were planted and when they were triggered, they caused the explosion. They've got the mark of the Machine Faction on them so Gippal and I thought that we'd better try and find out who was behind the attack before the blame was pinned on the Al Bhed."
"Don't worry Rikku, we can trust Lreav," Gippal said dryly. "Tell him everything."
I sniffed and ignored him, giving Lreav my full attention. "So we need to go to Djose Temple as soon as possible. Before the media find out what's happened and Gippal's thrown into one of those horrible Bevelle temple cells." I shuddered, recalling my own time spent in such a cell, when Maester Mika had arrested us during Yunie's pilgrimage.
"Don't hold back on my account," Gippal drawled, running a hand through his hair and sighing dramatically. "This is only my doom that you're discussin'."
"You know Gippal, not everything is all about you," I told him tartly. "This affects all of us."
Lreav looked from Gippal to me and then back again like he was a spectator in a Blitzball match. His expression was one of mild amusement, as if he could sense something that the two of us were oblivious to.
"You think I don't know that this affects all of us?"
"Sometimes I wonder," I muttered.
His eye narrowed. "What's that s'posed to mean?"
"What do you think it means?" I shot back, humour giving way to anger.
"If I knew then I wouldn't be asking!" He shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Spira you're so frustrating sometimes Rikku!"
I was frustrating? Me? Coming from Gippal, King of Frustration and Annoyance, it was enough to make me scream with laughter. I had never met such a huge hypocrite in my entire life! How in Spira could he possibly believe what he was saying? It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, you know?
"I think we're straying off the subject a little," Lreav broke in gently, his tone carefully tolerant. His green eyes were far too knowing and I felt myself blushing. "And if you want to get to Djose Temple before the media hounds declare war on the Al Bhed then we'd best hurry."
"Quite right," Gippal agreed quickly, avoiding my gaze. "Take care of it Lreav. I'll be in my cabin if you need me." Without another word to me he turned on his heel and walked away down the gangway.
I felt affronted that he just upped and left me and for a couple of moments all I could do was glare after him and stamp my foot childishly. I considered sticking my tongue out at his rapidly disappearing back but before I could do, Lreav shifted his weight and I remembered that I wasn't alone.
Willing my flush to disperse, I looked up through my lashes to find that Lreav was inspecting the ceiling with an intense expression of interest on his face. I appreciated his discretion and used the time to regain my composure.
As I watched him thoughtfully, I couldn't help noticing how calmly Lreav was taking the news. He seemed like a very collected man, as if nothing could ruffle him. It was nice to finally meet someone who appeared to think before he acted. Not like certain faction leaders that I could mention.
He was also pretty cute – which definitely helped.
"So how long have you been working on his Majesty's airship?" I asked after a moment of silence, partly because I was genuinely interested in his reply and partly because I was determined to take every opportunity I could to mock Gippal.
"Since his Majesty requested my services," he replied with a straight face, delighting me in his willingness to continue along the road of ridicule.
"You must have been so honoured."
"I wondered how I could ever repay him," Lreav deadpanned, his eyes sparkling. They were such an intense green; more intense than most Al Bhed anyway. In fact, they reminded me a lot of Gippal's eyes and – wait! I was irritated with Gippal because he'd dared to call me frustrating. I couldn't keep thinking about him like that, you know?
Lreav leaned back against the wall. "Seriously, I've known Gippal for years and after your cousin defeated Sin he asked me to join him in Djose."
"Aha! So you know who I am!" I exclaimed. "Besides my name of course."
He arched an eyebrow. "How could I not? You're the most famous Al Bhed girl in Spira."
"I am?" I found the concept fascinating. After years of being the Lady Yuna's sidekick it was nice to know that I finally had my own slice of fame.
"Sure. In fact, if Cid wasn't your father, you'd probably have noticed the adoring fans yourself."
I smiled brightly. "He is pretty scary, isn't he?"
"Scary? Lady Rikku – you're dad's the most terrifying person in Spira!"
He'd called me 'Lady' again. Once more it was something that I was only used to hearing when it preceded Yuna's name. I decided that I liked it and it made me warm even more towards Lreav.
Something else occurred to me then, as I thought back to what he had just said. "If you were in Djose … then you must have been there when Yunie, Paine and I passed through."
He nodded, dark hair falling over his eyes. "I was just one of the masses then. In fact, I was working on the Melatha deeper in the temple. So I didn't see you, but I heard later that Gippal had hired you."
"The Melatha?"
"It's the name of the airship. Gippal didn't tell you?" he rolled his eyes. "Typical. Well, apparently, it's the name of an ancient lightning bird."
"Oh! Like Valefor!" I said, recalling the first of Yuna's Aeons. While not especially attuned with lightning over any other element, it had certainly been an impressive bird.
"I suppose."
I sighed, mind wandering. "I would have loved to work on something like this," I told him enviously, envisaging the level of mechanics that must have gone into constructing such a craft. Surely this was the King of Machina in Spira, if there was such a thing. Brother would be so jealous if he ever got to see the Melatha.
Lreav cleared his throat awkwardly. "Say … I've got to get the ship going …" he broke off, looking shyly down at the floor. When his raised his eyes to mine he looked like a lost little boy. " … but after that, would you like a tour?"
It was more than Gippal had promised. Oh dammit – why was I always thinking about him anyway? I should forget that arrogant, self-absorbed excuse for a man ...
Shoving the insistent thoughts of Gippal to the back of my mind, I smiled at Lreav. "I'd love one."
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We were finally in the air, heading swiftly towards Djose Temple. Everything I had supposed about the airship was true; it cut through the sky like a bullet from one of Yunie's guns. From the ground it probably looked like a giant silvery bird – or some kind of ancient Aeon. We were lucky that the day was cloudy or our undercover escape from Bevelle would have been rather obvious.
I'd seen neither hide nor hair of Gippal since he had left me to my own devices. I thought it was rather rude of him to abandon me so but it had meant that I'd spent the last couple of hours in Lreav's company – something I definitely wasn't going to complain about.
Thoughtful, considerate, with a dry sense of humour that I found endlessly endearing, Lreav was Gippal's complete opposite. I'd learnt a lot more about the other Al Bhed during our time together and we had a great deal in common. We were both fascinated by machina in any form and his job sounded like the kind of position I had wanted to occupy before I had been bitten by the saving-the-world bug. We both had irritating older siblings – though he had two sisters as apposed to my brother, something that I was very sympathetic about. We'd even both lost our mother's as children; in fact, it was amazing how similiar our lives were. I felt like I had known Lreav for years as he showed me around Gippal's airship.
By the end of our tour he had even relaxed enough to stop calling me 'Lady Rikku'. Part of me was relief that this formality had been dropped while part of me missed the way such a simply word had made me feel special. However, this didn't affect how he treated me - as if I were a spun-glass object that was ready to shatter at any opportunity. It made such a change from how everyone else perceived me and it made me feel like a Princess.
"And now we're back on the bridge again," Lreav told me, slapping the switch so that the door slid back and I saw that indeed, we were back outside the bridge. Except this time, we weren't standing on the central gangway; we were inside a small corridor. Obviously catching sight of my confused look, Lreav explained further. "We've approached from a different direction. This is mainly used by crewmembers. Important people like yourself use to main entrance."
"I'm not important," I objected as the door slid shut again.
"Oh but you are, Lady Rikku," he told me earnestly. "You're the most important person we've ever had aboard the Melatha."
"Important eh?" I stretched my arms out and pretended to walk along a thin wire. "Do I look important now?"
Lreav shook his head at my antics. Galvanised, I continued my efforts, dancing lithely towards him. When I was a couple of steps away, I faked a stumble and pantomimed falling from a great height. Lreav laughed aloud. "You're really strange, Rik –" his words were cut off when I really did lose my balance. I pitched forward with a squeak of panic, hands held out before me, ready to embrace the floor.
Lreav jumped forward and caught me, his strong arms wrapping around my waist and preventing my body from coming into contact with the hard ground. We remained motionless for several long seconds and then I lifted my head, shaking my long blonde hair out of my face. "You saved my life!"
"Well, it would have been a travesty if you had died."
I had sudden strange flashbacks to the aftermath of the bombing, when I had said those same words to Gippal. Then I had been speaking honestly; now I was simply playacting … irritated, I pushed the unwanted thoughts from my mind and turned my attention back to Lreav.
"I am in your debt, good sir," I gushed as he took my hand and helped me to regain my footing. "How can I ever repay you?"
"I'm sure we'll think of something."
"My saviour …" my expression turned sly, "… which of us is important now?"
He laughed at my words and I joined in, feeling light-hearted for the first time since the bombing. In that brief moment I could forget all that had happened and simply enjoy the company of someone that I already considered to be a friend.
"Well you seem to be havin' fun in my absence."
Both of us started at the new voice, neither of us having heard the door to the bridge slide open. Lreav dropped my hand quickly and I stepped away from him, blushing deeply, before turning towards the doorway.
My heart sank.
Gippal stood there, watching us with an unreadable expression on his face. His arms were folded across his chest and he was leaning against the doorframe in a way that suggested he hadn't just arrived. I wondered how much of my charade he had seen. Suddenly it seemed painfully embarrassing rather than funny … which was ridiculous. Why did Gippal's opinion matter so much to me?
"I came to tell you that we're comin' up on Djose," he continued in the same neutral tone. "Lreav, could you see to the landin'?"
"Of course." He turned to me and gave me a tiny smile. "It was a pleasure to meet you Lady Rikku."
"And you," I replied, feeling oddly lost now that he was leaving.
"I'll see you later." Lreav turned and slipped past Gippal, the door sliding shut behind him.
Which left me alone with Gippal.
For some reason I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I didn't know where to look or what to say, so I settled for remaining silent and inspecting my low boots, which were looking a little worse for wear these days.
After several long, painful moments, Gippal cleared his throat and broke the silence. "You certainly seem to have made an impression on Lreav."
The insinuation in his tone angered me. "You know Gippal, it's really none of your business who I decided to talk to," I said coldly, my head snapping up so quickly that my braids danced around my face. "We might be in this investigation together but you have no right to police the rest of my life as well."
He looked taken aback and at first seemed lost for words. Then his face hardened and I knew things were going to go from bad to worse. "It does when it involves my crew."
"Oh for Spira's sake Gippal – you don't own them!"
"But I do pay their wages, Rikku, which entitles me to show interest in their lives."
"Do you have any idea how pompous that sounds?" I took a step towards him. "Dammit Gippal, this has nothing to do with you!"
He matched me step for step. "You only met him a few hours ago Rikku! You don't even know him!"
Another step. "Well I'm learning. Or I was before you decided to stick your nose into something that doesn't concern you! I happen to like Lreav!"
"I like him too but that doesn't mean I'm going to encourage a friendship between you."
" 'Encourage a friendship'?" I repeated incredulously, closing the distance between us. "Who do you think you are Gippal? I don't have to have your permission to talk to Lreav!"
"You do during this investigation. We don't have time for you to chase any male that looks at you appreciatively!"
I drew in a sharp breath, stunned by his words. Gippal seemed as surprised as me because he quickly began to backtrack. "Rikku – I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just think –"
I ignored him, mind racing. What had made Gippal say something like that? It wasn't just a low and spiteful comment; it was completely out of the blue! So what in Spira's name could he be feeling to warrent such a response?
And then suddenly I knew.
"You're jealous," I said softly, barely listening to his apologies as I considered my revelation.
He blinked down at me, halted in mid-flow. "What?"
"You're jealous. You're jealous of Lreav!" I spoke forcefully, my eyes daring him to deny it. "That's what this is all about. You're jealous!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" he scoffed, a little too quickly.
"You are jealous!"
"Don't flatter yourself Rikku."
"Oh I'm not. I'm just stating the truth." I couldn't believe it had taken me so long to work this out. Why else would Gippal be reacting in such a strange way? "You're jealous!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!" I mocked him gleefully, my pulse racing at how daring I was being. "You're jealous?"
Evidently realising that the direction he was heading in wasn't working, Gippal changed tack. He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward so that our noses were almost touching. "And why would I be jealous?"
"Because me and Lreav were – I mean I think that … um …" I found myself floundering in the face of his intense gaze. Suddenly it became very difficult to string a sentence together and all my clever jibes flew out of my mind.
He licked his lips in an achingly slow motion and my eyes were drawn to his mouth. "But to be jealous, wouldn't there have to be something between us?"
I didn't reply, mesmerised as I was by his lips.
"And there isn't … is there?"
It was a completely innocent question but by asking it, Gippal had sealed our fates. I opened my mouth, the usual denial springing to my lips but I found that I couldn't speak the words. I tried, but the proximity of his face was distracting me. And the way he kept licking his lips … I suddenly realised that it didn't really want to deny his statement.
There was no plaster in my hair this time. When his hand reached up to my face, it was to cradle my cheek, his long fingers caressing the soft skin. I leaned in to his touch, his musky scent inflaming my senses. I felt giddy and completely out of control. My emotions had taken control and though I thought I should be terrified by what was happening, or disgusted with myself at least, I didn't try to stop it.
His hand crept backwards until it rested against the nape of my neck, twisting my silky hair around his fingers. I shivered and inched closer, my own hand brushing against his chest, moving of its own accord. The material underneath my fingers was rough and it gave me the clarity I needed to remember how to talk.
"Gippal … I …"
He laid one finger of his free hand briefly across my lips, effectively silencing me. Staring up into his single eye, I saw a cocktail of emotions there: passion and lust warred with confusion and uncertainty. It was reassuring to think that Gippal was as unsure about the situation as I was and this knowledge gave me the confidence to slide my hand up to his shoulder, tentatively touching the bare skin of his neck.
It was smoother than I had imagined and he didn't shy away as I had have expected him to. Feeling emboldened by the raw emotion between us, I reached up to touch his lips as he had mine. They were like velvet and they curved upwards as he smiled down at me.
His free hand captured mine, pulling it away from his lips as he drew me to him and we both finally gave over to the inevitable.
His soft lips touched mine and it felt like I had saved the world all over again. Yuna had once told me what her first kiss with Tidus had been like but even her elaborate description paled next to the experience of Gippal's lips pressing against mine.
It was like we had a moment frozen in time – a moment that had been carved out for us alone. I had been kissed before but never quite like this. It seemed like our lips had been moulded to fit each other's and no one else's. It seemed as if events had conspired to bring us to this point in time. It seemed as if our own emotions had overpowered our common sense … but I didn't care.
Reality be damned. For that moment I didn't just believe in luck, I believed in destiny.
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Hooray! They finally kissed! You know, I actually wasn't planning to have them get together as early as this, but the opportunity just arose … and after all, just because they kissed doesn't mean everything's going to be happily-ever-after ….
As always read, review and enjoy : )