Disclaimer: FFX, FFX-2 – neither of them belong to me, I'm just a poor, starving fan : )

A/N: As usual, I have to start by making an apology to all my wonderful readers. I'm SO sorry for making you wait over a month for this new chapter! Real Life just got on top of me and it was only this weekend that I actually had time to sit down and write!

Anyway, this story is just about wrapping up now – I think there will be a couple more chapters after this one but then I will saying farewell to 'Rikku's Story' … :sob:. I have very vague plans to do a sequel, but I don't have a plot at the moment, which is a bit of a problem. Guess I'll just finish this one first and see how it goes.

This chapter is dedicated to a new reader Sunday Daydreamer, who left me a wicked review and reminded me why I'm writing this crazy fanfic ; )

UPDATED - 4/04/2005: Corrected my 'Yuna's pilgrimage' error, thanks for pointing it out Blue Jae!

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Rikku's Story

By: JoeyStar

Timeframe: Set a month or so after the 'perfect' ending of FFX-2

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Chapter 20

Some part of me felt that it should have been a victory. For so long now, Elhandra and I had been playing this vicious game – trading insults back and forth without any consideration for the others' feelings … surely this was the ultimate victory, you know?

I'd won … and yet I felt empty. I was untouched by emotion – if anything, I felt sickened by the way events had unfolded. Elhandra's stricken face rose into my mind and I realised I'd won nothing. Gippal, Elhandra, Spira even Lreav's lives had been shattered – not to mention the hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who were Sending the souls of their loved ones to the Fayth, or hopelessly clinging to the remnants of their lives.

This was no victory, and until the situation was resolved and the terrorist brought to justice … then there would be no victory.

"I can't believe it."

These were the first words Elhandra had spoken since watching the security recording, some minutes before. I breathed a silent sigh of relief that she was finally willing to talk to me again; even in my current state I couldn't miss the irony of this fact. Bare minutes before I would have paid for the privilege of silence.

"Lreav … I just can't believe it!"

I understood her disbelief perfectly, although I didn't say so. How could Lreav – quiet, unassuming, studious Lreav – be the 'criminal mastermind', as the media had dubbed him, behind the bombings? He was the most unlikely of suspects!

And in a strange way, it was this realisation that convinced me that Lreav was truly guilty and what we'd seen on the security recording hadn't just been some sort of elaborate reconstruction. I'm not pretending to be an expert at solving crimes of this nature, but I do know a thing or two about sneaking and deceiving. And I know that in criminal cases, the culprit is never the most likely suspect. It's never the guy in the spotlight – like Gippal had been – but rather, the skulking presence in the shadows … Lreav.

As hard as it was for me to digest, that was nothing compared to what Elhandra was going through. She was still shaking her head vehemently and I swear if she said, "I can't believe it," one more time, I would throttle her – psychopathic brother or not.

"This can't be real – it can't be! I can't believe it!"

My fingers twitched but I forced myself to relax. Hadn't I gone through a similar thing when I'd found out about Lreav? There'd been a lot less vocalisation of course but this was Elhandra we were talking about.

"This can't be real," she repeated, glaring at the screen where the security recording had recently been played. "In fact, I'd accuse you of tampering with the recording equipment … but I know you don't have the technical knowledge to have falsified something so sophisticated."

Typical Elhandra. Even in a time of grief she could make a perfectly normal comment sound like a poisonous insult.

I couldn't help myself from rising to it thought. "What possible reason could I have for making it look as if Lreav was behind the bombings?"

Elhandra's perfect brow furrowed as the logic within this question registered with her. "You could – you could be using it as a way of clearing Gippal's name!" she protested loudly, though her words fell flat.

I didn't reply, watching instead as her shoulders sagged and she sighed bitterly. "He really did it, didn't he?" she said finally, her voice sounding strangely choked.

I peered at her. Was she crying?

"Yeah – I think he did," I replied carefully. The last thing I needed was a sobbing primadona on my hands. I had to get Gippal away from Lreav and as much as I hated to admit it, I'd probably need Elhandra's help.

"My own brother."

"Half-brother," I pointed out helpfully, cursing my loose tongue as soon as the words had left my mouth. Why did I always have to try and make light of awkward and often tragic situations?

Elhandra stiffened at my words. "Could this be about – ? But that would mean …"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?" Elhandra had never really spoken to me before about her and Lreav only sharing one parent – it had been Gippal who'd passed on that little gem of information.

"Nothing."

"Elhanrda – "

"Just drop it Rikku!" she snarled, pulling herself out of the chair and turning around to face me. Finally getting a good look at her, I was taken aback by how pale she was. Her skin was almost ashen and her green eyes were tired, upset and – how strange. If I'd been forced to define the third emotion I saw in Elhandra's eyes, I would have had to say that she looked … well, she looked afraid.

What would Elhandra have to be afraid about? Besides the obvious fear for Gippal's safety of course, but we didn't know that Lreav was going to do anything to Gippal. Maybe he was just using him as a hostage, you know?

No – the level of fear in Elhandra's eyes was greater than that accounted for and it set my nerves on edge. I got the distinct impression that there was something more to this situation that met the eye.

"What is it?"

She looked away from me and didn't reply.

"Oui'na vnekrdahat uv cusadrehk," (You're frightened of something,) I persisted, switching to Al Bhed in the hopes that it would convince her to confide in me. "Fryd ec ed?" (What is it?)

"E's hud vnekrdahat!" (I'm not frightened!) she flared predictably, but her show of bravado didn't fool me. There was something troubling Elhandra – something relating to Lreav and Gippal – and something that just might explain why it seemed that the whole of Spira had suddenly gone completely mad.

"Just tell me!"

There was a tense silence in which I willed Elhandra to trust me. If she would just tell me what was going on, then maybe I could help, you know?

When she finally spoke, her words were not those that I had been waiting for. "We don't have time for this," she said abruptly. "We have to go and save Gippal."

"Wait a minute – this is important!"

"Not as important as saving Gippal."

"Maybe not but –"

"Rikku, we have to get to Gippal. Now!"

"Why?" I objected, not understanding where Elhandra was coming from. She cared for Gippal certainly, but she was acting like the world was going to end if we didn't rescue Gippal that very moment! "I agree that we've got to find Lreav but surely Gippal isn't in any real danger? They're friends for Spira's sake! Gippal probably caught Lreav doing something he shouldn't, so Lreav had to take him hostage …" I trailed off as Elhandra shook her head impatiently.

"No, no, no – you don't understand!" she interrupted, sounding almost desperate.

"Then explain it to me."

"There's no time. If I'm right –" she cut herself off and looked around the bridge wildly. "We have to find Gippal."

I was beginning to get seriously exasperated. "Why?"

Instead of replying she made to move past me, towards the entrance to the bridge and the Melatha's landing plank. Without thinking I reached out and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face me, ready to demand that she answered me before I tore all her stupid little braids out, one by one.

Our green eyes locked and the words stuck in my throat. Elhandra's fear was still there, for all of Spira to see, and this unsettled me. What scared me even more was that it was also completely genuine.

"Please, Rikku."

The words startled me. In all our time together, Elhandra had never addressed me in such a way and with such pleading in her voice.

"I'll explain everything later, but for now … please, just trust me."

She never would have been so deferential to me if she hadn't perceived the situation as serious, I realised, and while I was aching to know Elhandra's secret … I found myself nodding in agreement.

The secret could wait.

Gippal, in Elhandra's opinion, could not.

"Okay," I said simply. "Let's go and find Gippal then."

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It was easier said than done. Although my opinion of Lreav had plummeted completely upon learning he'd heartlessly destroyed the lives of hundreds of people, I still had to give him credit for his Al Bhed ability to melt into the surrounding forests of Kilika without leaving any kind of trail.

"This is useless!" Elhandra declared as we came to our fifth dead end. "We're going around in circles."

"It's not my fault your brother's so good at moving stealthily," I retorted. "Damn Al Bhed genes."

"Rikku – we have to find them!"

"I know, I know. I'm doing the best I can!"

"I thought you'd been to these woods before."

My mind flashed back to the time, not so long ago, when the Gullwings had come to Kilika ...but I pushed the memory firmly aside. I needed all my concentration at the moment. "The ones near the temple maybe, but not here."

"Typical."

Her tone irritated me. "Look, if you want to try and follow these tracks then be my guest."

Unsurprisingly, Elhandra remained silent and I continued to look for clues as to which direction Lreav and Gippal had headed in after leaving the Melatha.

Our progress was laboriously slow but when I found a third sign of their passage, I reasoned that we were at least making progress.

"They're heading east," I murmured.

Elhandra continued to fret behind me. "At least they can't get off of Kilika. The ships in the harbour were all destroyed by the bombing and there's no other way – wait! What about the Melatha? What if they were just waiting for us to leave and then they double back around and steal it out from under us?"

It was still confusing having to deal with this new, nervous Elhandra. The woman had always been highly strung but this was beginning to get ridiculous! She was ruining my concentration and if she hadn't been possessing the all important secret information I would have been tempted to leave her in the jungle.

"Lreav won't be able to get in without the access codes and I doubt Gippal would ever give them to him," I pointed out logically.

"But Lreav already has them!" Elhandra countered. "Gippal gave them to him when Lreav first came to work for the Machine Faction."

Well that explained a great deal. Such as how the Guadosalam bombs had come to be placed. Lreav must have broken into the Melatha in the middle of the night while the rest of us had been sleeping in Djose Temple!

His deception frightened me. How long had he been planning this to know that he would need the Melatha's access codes?

I tried to smile in a reassuring way, which was difficult when my insides were churning. "We'll just have to take a risk then. But I haven't heard any crafts lifting off, have you? Besides, every Yevonite and Youth League member from here to Zanarkand is hunting the Melatha at the moment. It would hardly be the smart thing to do … and Lreav is anything if smart."

"Damn him," I heard Elhandra whispered under her breath and for once, I agreed with her completely.

Damn, Lreav. Damn him for everything he'd done – for no apparent reason at all. Damn him for the lives he'd destroyed in Guadosalam. Damn him for the people he'd destroyed in Kilika. Damn him for almost irrevocably damaging the peace efforts of Yuna, Baralai and Nooj. And more than anything, damn him for trying to frame Gippal.

Lreav had a lot to answer for and I was determined that I would be there when those answers were provided. Which meant actually finding him and Gippal. Which meant continuing on through the Kilika forest, even though I was still not completely certain that we were travelling in the right direction.

Not that I was going to tell Elhandra that. In her current condition she'd probably burst into tears and I had my hands full already without having to comfort I woman I frankly couldn't stand.

"Why are you stopping?"

I gritted my teeth. "I'm just trying to get my bearings." I squinted at the surrounding foliage and a thought struck me. "You know, I think we're heading towards the temple."

"Kilika Temple? Wasn't that damaged in the attack?"

"I –" It was a good question. I hoped for Lreav's sake that it hadn't been. That temple had a great deal of historical and spiritual significance. If it had been destroyed it would probably crush what remained of the Kilika people.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "but it seems as good a place as any to head for. I don't think Lreav would have wanted to hang around in this jungle for very long and the temple's the nearest landmark."

"And if they're not there?"

"Then we'll … we'll look in the town."

"But the town's been destroyed."

"I know."

"Then where else could they have gone?"

"I don't know, Elhandra," I snapped, loosing my cool for what felt like the millionth time since we'd met. I don't know what it was about the woman, but Elhandra could irritate me like no other in the whole of Spira.

Well, except Gippal perhaps.

"Now will you please be quiet," I continued, "I'm trying to concentrate."

Elhandra snorted rudely, though quite what she was commenting on I wasn't certain. "Just hurry up and get us to Gippal. Before it's too late."

That was it. I'd had enough of her cryptic comments and complete refusal to explain why I was running through Killika forest like a headless Chocobo.

I wanted some answers.

Now.

"Why are you so certain that something bad is going to happen to Gippal?" I demanded suddenly, stopping my progress along the path. With hindsight it was a ridiculous place to have a conversation but I'd completely reached the end of my patience.

"Why have you stopped?"

"Why are you so certain that something bad is going to happen to Gippal?" I repeated sharply.

"We have to get to the temple –" Elhandra was beginning to look a little wild-eyed.

"No! Unless you can give me one good reason why we need to be there now, then we're staying here until I have some answers to my questions!"

The air stilled between us. Only the sounds of the surrounding forest permeated the tension brimming between me and Elhandra.

"You want a reason?" she said finally – and for once her face and tone were completely serious.

I pushed my sweaty hair back over my face; the heat of Kilika was beginning to get to me. "Yes, I want a reason."

"Are you sure?"

It felt like Elhandra was testing me and I didn't take that from anybody, let alone the prissy little brat I'd been forced to spend way to much time with over the last several weeks.

"Dammit, Elhandra, just bloody well tell me!"

She held out for a few more agonising seconds and then sighed and looked out into the forest, her expression bleak. "Fine. We need to get to Gippal as soon as possible because Lreav … because Lreav's going to kill him."

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I love the irony of life.

There's a well known Spiran saying that I feel fitted my current situation perfectly: 'you should be careful what you wish for because you just might get it'.

I'd desperately wanted to know what Elhandra had been hiding from me, but now all I wanted was for her to take the words back. Of all the things I had expected her to say … that had definitely not been one of them.

"What?" It was the only thing I could think of to say; the only thing I actually could say thanks to the frozen state of my mind.

"I said that Lreav's going to try to kill him," Elhandra repeated flatly.

Hearing the words for a second time didn't make them any easier to digest. I still felt like I'd stepped into some strange parallel universe where everything was upside down. I mean, for Spira's sake, what possible reason could Lreav have for wanting to hurt Gippal? Use him as a hostage, maybe, but kill him? Had Elhandra gone completely insane?

"But that's – no – I don't … why?" I spluttered, all powers of speech momentarily escaping me.

"There's no time." Infuriatingly, my companion pushed past me and hurried on down the rough track.

I stared after her incredulously. "You can't just tell me that and then walk away!" I shouted. "What did you mean? And why in Spira would Lreav want to hurt Gippal?"

To my frustration, Elhandra didn't pause and I was forced to run after her, a hundred question spiralling through my mind. When I finally caught up with her she was standing at a fork in the path, looking from left to right and back again.

I opened my mouth to demand she answer my question, but she spoke before me. "Which way?" she demanded roughly.

"Answer me first!" I countered.

"Left or right? Which way, Rikku?"

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll tell you what you want to know. Fair?"

I hadn't meant my words to sound so petulant but as the hung in the air between us, I couldn't help wincing. Now was not the time for this. If what Elhandra had said was true, Gippal life was in danger. What we he think if he knew I was busy arguing in the middle of Kilika forest when I should have been on the way to rescue him?

Elhandra turned on me, whirling around so fast that a number of her tiny braids actually hit me in the face. I flinched backwards from both their impact and the look of fury on her face. It wasn't that I was scared or anything … I just have a healthy interest in self-preservation.

"You don't get it, do you?" she snarled, her lips curling up into a humourless smile. "My brother hates Gippal. He absolutely loathes him!"

Her words only served to confuse me further. Lreav hate Gippal …? That was impossible! Maybe I'd misunderstood her words or something …

"But they're friends," I heard myself say weakly. "Good friends."

"On the surface perhaps, but Lreav's hated Gippal for as long as I can remember. I couldn't believe it when he said he was going to voluntarily go and work for Gippal, unless …" Elhandra trailed off, a look of horror dawning over her face. "Of course! It's all starting to make sense!"

I'm glad it was to somebody. I was still floundering around in the land of confusion.

"This is perfect opportunity for him – oh why didn't I see this before?"

"Um, Elhandra – "

"No – no more questions, no more stalling." Her words were hard, decisive. "We're standing here wasting time and Gippal could already be dead. We have to find them so will you just tell me, is it left or right?"

Gippal could already be dead.

The words rang over and over inside my head and suddenly I didn't want to argue with Elhandra anymore. She was right; it was accomplishing nothing useful and if anything, it was helping Lreav escape. Every minute we stood her, shooting spiteful words back and forth was an extra minute that Lreav had to run. Or hide. Or whatever he was doing.

There would be a time for questions, a time for explanations, but this was not it. There were more important things that we should be doing – things that might affect the whole of Spira's future. I could curb my curiosity until a more appropriate moment and devote all of my energy to tracking Lreav and Gippal.

Gippal could already be dead.

No! I shied away from that horrible thought. To loose Gippal now, after we'd been through so much together … it was something I completely refused to contemplate. No, we'd catch Lreav, rescue Gippal and then all live happily ever after.

That was the way things were supposed to work, you know?

Gippal could already be dead.

"Left," I said with certainty. "It's left."

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So there you go, another chapter down and you STILL don't know the answer to the ultimate question: WHY has Lreav done all of this?

Sorry for being evil but I don't want to give everything away just yet ; )

As always, read, review and most importantly, enjoy : )