Disclaimer: FFX, FFX-2 – neither of them belong to me, I'm just a poor, starving fan : )
A/N: Well, this is officially the last full chapter of Rikku's Story. It's the longest chapter I've ever written and I hope it fills in enough of the gaps in the storyline while still throwing in a twist or two. And of course I hope it's interesting!
I just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who has reviewed this fic – its your opinions that have turned this from a random writing experiment into the first fanfic that I'm actually going to finish! Having nearly eight hundred reviews is so much more than I could ever have hoped for and I appreciate every single one of them.
Accordingly, this chapter is dedicated to everyone who has read and enjoyed this story – reviewers and lurkers alike ; ) I hope you enjoy it!
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Rikku's StoryBy: JoeyStar
Timeframe: Set a month or so after the 'perfect' ending of FFX-2
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Chapter 23
The area directly outside of the temple was as deserted as when Elhandra and I had entered, not long before. My footsteps echoed around the stone bowl as I hurried after my companions. Gippal had reached the top of the steps and stood, framed against the sky. Gazing at his figure I felt a growingly familiar emotion surge up inside of me but I quashed it ruthlessly. There was a time and a place to examine the development of mine and Gippal's relationship and this wasn't it.
I followed Elhandra up the steps and felt my breath catch in my throat as I moved to join Gippal. The whole of Kilika Island spread out before us like some kind of giant patchwork quilt. The jungle teemed with life – the cries of a thousand avian creatures reached my ears and the temple arose out of the centre of it, a vast monument an architectural vision that was so ancient that it had been all but forgotten. Yet this was not what had grabbed my attention; this wasn't what had pushed all the air from my lungs, reducing me to a helplessly breathless state.
No, it was the wreckage of Kilika that had grabbed my attention.
Although Elhandra and I had broached the town when we had first arrived on the island, it had been next to impossible to actually get inside and we'd been forced to roam the edges, trying to gather as much information as we could. It had been fairly evident that the extent of the damage was bad but we'd had no real way of assessing how bad, and besides, after we'd return to the Melatha to find Gippal and Lreav gone, I'd had other things on my mind.
The damage was so much worse than I had imagined. From the height of the temple all that apparently remained of the once prosperous fishing town was a blackened and splintered shell. Buildings that had once stood two stories high had been reduced to piles of rubble and much of the town had simply been swept away by the sea. Here and there tiny figures could been seen moving, though from this height it was impossible to tell whether they were tending to the hurt or if they numbered amongst the injured themselves.
"I had no idea it was this bad," Gippal muttered and I knew what he meant.
"How could he?" Elhandra whispered beside us, her words so quiet that they were almost inaudible. I knew what she meant as well, though it had to be coming as more of a shock to her than to me. After all, Lreav was her brother and he was the one who was responsible for all this pain and suffering.
It was hard to believe that this amount of damage could have been caused by a single man. The last time Kilika had suffered through anything of this magnitude had been when Sin had attacked, back when I'd been working with the Al Bhed to stop the Summoners' pilgrimages. But Sin had been an unstoppable – well, reputably unstoppable – enemy. The fact that Lreav, who was, after all, only an Al Bhed, had managed to cause destruction on a similar scale was chilling and I felt a shiver of some indeterminate emotion run down my spine. I wasn't scared of what Lreav had done exactly … I was more saddened because it was an indication of just how far Lreav had fallen. While I knew from personal experience how hard the loss of a mother could be, I still failed to understand how that one single event in Lreav's past could have been a catalyst for all his actions now. This whole situation was like a great big puzzle that I was trying to piece together; only some of the pieces were still missing. Gippal and Elhandra's story in the temple … some of it still didn't add up. Why had Gippal blamed himself for the death of Lreav's mother? What was so significant about Lreav being half Al Bhed? And where did Gippal's father fit into the picture?
Something touched my hand and I jumped slightly as someone entwined their fingers through mine. "It'll be okay," a voice murmured and though I took comfort from Gippal words, I couldn't accept them completely.
Would it really be okay? Because as far as I could see, even after we caught Lreav and prevented any further damage to Spira, it would take months, maybe years, to repair the destruction that his well-placed bombs had wrought. And sure, there would be those who plodded on regards, citing this as just another episode in Spira's tempestuous history that they had to get through but I couldn't help wondering if some, like those who had survived the Kilika bombing, might not have the energy to fight anymore.
That wasn't to mention the political implications. When word got out that even though Gippal wasn't responsible, the bomber was still an Al Bhed, then all the hard work of the last two years would be erased in one foul swoop. Such a realisation made my heart ache; Yuna had worked so hard to achieve the current peace in Spira. She'd been serving our world since she had been old enough to enter Summoner training and she really had helped to change it for the better. Old prejudices were fading, Al Bhed and Yenoite tensions were subsiding, even Nooj's Youth League and Baralai's New Yevon were seeing one another as allies rather than enemies. It had been a long, hard struggle but things were finally beginning to come together … and then this had to happen.
Inwardly I cursed Lreav with all my being. I wondered if he'd ever considered the impact his revenge against Gippal would have on the rest of Spira – the hundreds, no thousands of innocent people who were only just being to relax in the newfound peace. Going by the old Lreav I would have said 'yes' without a doubt, but this deceitful, treacherous man who'd gone from saying he loved me to trying to kill me … I wasn't so sure. Blind revenge had completely overturned his personality, so much so that I had to wonder whether I'd ever known the real Lreav. Going by what Elhandra and Gippal had said, the good man that Lreav had once been had died years ago, leaving this broken and twisted shell in its place.
For he was twisted, there was no denying that. He'd proved it through his reckless endangering of innocent people who'd never even met him or Gippal. And there was also no doubt in my mind that he was broken – his actions in the temple showed that. I'd even have gone so far as to say his sanity was slipping away, so focused was he on achieving his revenge against Gippal – for something that I still didn't fully comprehend. While this might have decreased the danger we faced by pursuing him, in that all of his careful plans were unravelling and he couldn't keep his mind level long enough to put any new ones into place, it increased his unpredictability. After shooting me in the temple, I wasn't sure that there was much Lreav wouldn't do to escape this increasingly dead-end situation – and more worryingly, extract his final revenge on Gippal.
Suddenly in need of comfort, I tightened my grip on Gippal's hand. My greatest fear in all of this was no longer for my own health. Not that I didn't have a healthy dose of self-preservation but despite his actions in the temple, I knew that Lreav truly wasn't that interested in me. I was simply one in a list of many things that was stopping him from getting to Gippal.
And that was what scared me – that Lreav would get Gippal and when this whole mess was finally resolved, I would be alone again. Oh, I'm not trying to set myself up as a complete recluse or anything, I have lots of people in my life, you know? In fact, I'm incredibly lucky. I've got my Pops and Brother, Yunie and Tidus, Paine, Wakka, Lulu and even little baby Vidina … but what I don't have, what I've lacked for so long without even realising it, is that one person that you can share everything with.
And I think I've finally found him – in Gippal.
I winced at how horribly cliché that particular thought sounded but I couldn't deny it any longer either. I didn't know what I would do if I lost Gippal, after taking so damn long to actually work out that he was the one I wanted to be with. I hadn't even had chance to tell him that for Spira's sake! And if Lreav took him away from me before I could …
"When we find him … please be careful," I pleaded with Gippal suddenly, my eyes still fixed on the wreckage of Kilika.
Gippal seemed to realise that I was deadly serious because he refrained from making one of his typically tasteless jokes and settled on squeezing my hand reassuringly. This simple gesture spoke volumes and meant more to me than anything Gippal could have said. It also reaffirmed something within my own mind: as long as I was still actually able to move and fight, Lreav wasn't going to get within ten feet of Gippal.
"Look!" Elhandra suddenly cried, interrupting the private moment between me and Gippal. I swallowed my displeasure and followed the direction of her gaze.
A figure was pacing back and forth on the plateau below us, just visible through the trees. Now that Elhandra had pointed him out to us, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed him before. His movements were agitated, jerky, and once I'd started watching him I found I couldn't tear my eyes away.
"Lreav," Gippal breathed and although the figure was too far away for us to be certain, neither Elhandra nor I disputed his statement. There was no one else that it logically could be. Everyone else on the island, including – I hoped – the priests that had been attending to the temple, were helping tend to the injured in Kilika town.
It seemed Gippal had been right; Lreav was waiting for us. Or waiting for Gippal and his sister at least. After all, he didn't know that I was still alive. He thought he had killed me.
Now that was definitely something we could use to our advantage.
"He's waiting for us," Gippal unconsciously echoed my thoughts, his expression grim. "Let's not disappoint him."
Without another word, the three of us descended the ancient steps towards the plateau were Lreav was still across the uneven stones like a caged Coeurl. I dropped back until I was following behind Gippal and Elhandra. For once my small stature was a blessing; I was easily hidden behind Elhandra's lanky form and this way we'd go into the final confrontation with an element of surprise on our side.
As we neared the plateau, the sound of talking reached my ears. It took me a few more seconds to recognise the voice as that of Lreav's. I tensed – had he spotted me? – but the murmur of conversation persisted without faltering. My eyes widened. Was Lreav … talking to himself?
" … blood – so much – everywhere! Trickling down her … no, not blood … there was no blood! But she …"
I thought I was done with being surprised, but there was no denying it. Lreav was talking to himself, his words a jumbled mass that, as far as I could tell, made absolutely no sense. What in Spira was he talking about? Were my earlier doubts about Lreav's sanity coming back to haunt me?
" … she's dead and I – I killed her!" Lreav paused in his pacing, his voice tight with anguish. A chill swept down my spine; was he talking about me?
Before I could formulate any further thoughts, Lreav's hands balled into fists and he slammed his fists abruptly against his thighs. "No – I did not kill her … he did. He took her away from me … why can't I stop him? Why does he always – no! No, this time he won't … this time I'll win and – and the blood … the blood will finally fade …"
Speechless, I looked at my companions. Elhandra looked stricken in the face of her brother's madness. Gippal's face was blank but the subtle tightening of the muscles around his jaw showed that he was more distressed by the situation than he would ever admit.
I knew how he felt; I knew how both of them felt. Lreav had been a good friend to me over the last several weeks, and though I'm sure that part – or even most – of that friendship had been based on manipulation, I couldn't deny that he had helped me through some difficult times – albeit ones that he himself had caused. To see him like this – so confused, so lost – was far more painful than I would have expected.
I wanted to hate him – I had hated him – but now … I just couldn't.
"Lreav?"
He made no indication that he had heard his sister's voice and continued in the direction that he had previously been moving – which was away from us, across the broad plateau towards the jungle.
" … the blood will fade … fade away …" The words drifted back towards us.
Elhandra took a step forward. "Lreav?" she tried again, desperation creeping into her tone.
" … and she'll be back … she'll be back with me … by my side …"
"Lreav?" This was Gippal, his hand on Elhandra's shoulder, giving her comfort through the contact.
" … she'll love me – I know she will … away from him … she will …"
Elhandra and Gippal shared a worried glance. Standing behind them I felt curiously out of place and more than a little left out. I quashed those selfish emotions along with the sliver of jealously that was threatening to rear its ugly head. This was hardly the time or place to indulge my own insecurities. Not that there was really much else I could do … was there?
An idea struckme and before I'd had chance to really think it through properly, I'd opened my mouth.
"Lreav?"
You'd have thought I'd proclaimed my undying love for Lreav considering the effect that one word had on him. His entire body stiffened and he turned around slowly, achingly slowly, to face our little welcome party.
I was startled by the change in him. His green eyes, normally so full of laughter and kindness, were sunken and feverish. His brown hair was standing up in clumps on his head as if he had been continually running his hands through it and he looked tired and ill. His desperate gaze locked onto mine and he stared at me in amazement. The growing hunger in his eyes began to make me feel uncomfortable.
"You're alive," he whispered, his words surprisingly lucid.
No thanks to you, I dearly wanted to say but instead, I bit my tongue and fixed a neutral expression on my face.
"You're alive," Lreav repeated slowly, drawing the words out as if each cost him a million gil. His eyes raked over my form as if he was trying to consume me. "You're alive … there's no blood … it's gone … there's no more blood! You're alive … you came back to me!"
His words, and the terrible longing in his eyes, frightened me. Evidently my companions felt to the same way because Elhandra took a step forward to intercept her brother and Gippal drew closer to me protectively.
"Lreav, just stay –"
Lreav ignored his sister, still intent on me. "You've come back … now we can be together again! I – I didn't mean to hurt you …" a shadow passed over his face, then he brightened, " … you know that right? I … I love you. Hurting you was a mistake … a mistake that he – it's all his fault really –"
It was impossible to tell how long Lreav would have continued ranting, but as the words tumbled out from between his lips, he had been inching forward, closing the distance between us. He'd taken one step too many and Gippal had pushed me non-too gently aside and interposed himself between me and the man who'd gone from shooting me to loving me in the space of a few agonising minutes.
As soon as Lreav's blood-shot eyes locked onto Gippal, his demeanour changed alarming. Quick as a Raptor he withdrew his machina weapon from inside his clothes and pressed it firmly against Gippal's forehead before the other could react.
In an instant, the whole situation had change. Lreav had gone from babbling, confusing and generally fairly harmless to a cold, hard-eyed terrorist who had hundreds of deaths on his conscience.
A tide of anger rose up inside of me, over-riding the panic that had set in when Lreav had drawn his weapon. To think I'd actually begun to feel sorry for this – this … this lnadeh! (cretin). Gippal and Lreav were frozen – locked together like a pair of statues. Elhandra's eyes darted back and forth between them, her expression taught.
"Don't give me a reason," Lreav said finally, his tone low and murderous.
"In your mind, I don't think I need to, do I?" Gippal responded quietly.
A bitter smile twisted the corners of Lreav's mouth. "No … you really don't, do you … brother?"
Brother? Brother!
What in Spira's name was going on? What did Lreav mean?
And why didn't Gippal deny it?
Why didn't Elhandra deny it?
Why did no one deny it?
I shook myself, eyes now as wide as Elhandra's. Maybe I had just misheard or something? Yes – that must have been it. I mean, Gippal couldn't be Lreav's brother. I knew for a fact that Gippal was a full-bloodied Al Bhed, you know? And Lreav … Lreav, was half – his mother had been human. So unless Gippal and Lreav had the same father but different mothers, then there was no way that Lreav could be his brother.
And that made no sense either!
Because I knew Lreav and Elhandra had the same father, so if Gippal did too then would make them all related – which just wasn't possible when I knew that Elhandra was in love with Gippal in a definitely non-platonic way …
The whole thing was completely impossible!
"Not for a long time now, Lreav," Gippal said calmly, but I got the impression that he was no longer talking about excuses.
Lreav laughed incredulously; it was a harsh sound, with no humour in it. "Do you think the passage of time matters? Do you think it excuses what you did?"
"Do you think your thirst for revenge excuses what you've done?"
Lreav pressed the machina harder against Gippal's forehead, but the other man didn't flinch. "What I have done … what I have done is – is nothing," Lreav hissed, his face contorted with rage.
"Oh I'm sorry, I had no idea that bein' a murderer was a viable career choice these days."
With a snarl of rage, Lreav viciously backhanded Gippal with the butt of the machina weapon. Elhandra screamed as Gippal fell to his knees, clutching at his bleeding cheek. Torn between wanting to get the damn machina weapon away from Lreav and needing to help Gippal, I wavered.
"Everything I am today – you made me!" Lreav accused, the machine trained unerringly on Gippal, although it shook slightly.
Gippal spat a mouthful of blood out onto the floor.
"No," he said firmly. "What you are today is a product of your own twisted mind."
"A mind that you twisted, brother!"
There was that word again: 'brother'. There was no way of denying this time that this is what Lreav had said. But I'd already established that there was no possible way Lreav and Gippal could be related through blood, so what in the name of Spira did it mean?
Could it be some kind of endearment? A sarcastic one to be sure; simply a word that united Gippal and Lreav as fellow Al Bhed?"
"Lreav, you did that all by yourself." Gippal scrambled to his feet and took a couple of steps backwards, regarding Lreav warily.
The formally placid man's face was apoplectic with rage. "You killed my mother!" he screamed, waving the machina around so wildly that Elhandra and I ducked. "You ripped her away from me – you and your filthy father … despoiling her every night – stealing her love away from me. Forcing her to forget me!"
"Lreav, she didn't –"
"She left me behind! Left me with strangers!"
"Strangers?" Elhandra burst out suddenly, her fury at her brother's words eclipsing any fear she held that he would hurt her. "We weren't strangers. We were your family and we loved you!"
"Loved me? Loved me!" Lreav laughed again, but this time it carried with it a horrible, high-pitched note that sent my teeth on edge. "You use a word you can't comprehend. I've seen you Elhandra, panting after him like a Dingo in heat. You think that's real love? Pah! You're just a pathetic child playing at being a grown-up!"
Even I was shocked at the ferocity of Lreav's words. After all, Elhandra was his sister, his flesh and blood and I'd never heard him speak so harshly to her before. Apparently neither had Elhandra; she flinched backwards as if Lreav had physically struck her, tears welling up in her large eyes.
"Real love is pain," Lreav continued fanatically. "Real love is devotion. Real love is a willingness to do anything, achieve anything, go to any lengths to please those you hold above all others."
A look of dawning comprehension flittered across Gippal's face and he shook his head slowly, as if he couldn't believe his own thoughts. "That's what this is all about?" he demanded. "You're seekin' revenge against me, hurtin' all of these people, destroyin' so many lives … 'cause you think it's what you ma would've wanted?"
Lreav stared at him. "You know nothing of my mother."
"I know she loved you. I know she's probably turnin' in her grave with everythin' you've done and how far you've fallen. I know –"
"You know nothing!" Lreav shrieked, bringing the machina weapon and pointing it squarely at Gippal. I saw his finger tighten around the trigger and without a seconds thought, I threw myself in front of Gippal, bracing myself for the fiery agony that came with being shot.
"NO!"
I heard the gunfire but the pain never came. Trembling slightly, I lifted my head to see Lreav backing away from me, his eyes haunted. A hands-width to the left of me, the ground was smoking slightly and it was the work of a moment for me to realise that Lreav had adjusted his aim at the last second so as not to hurt me.
Maybe shooting me twice within an hour is too much even for Lreav, I thought flippantly, not wanting to consider the fact that it was probably to do with Lreav's growing regard for me. That was something I did not want to think about right now.
"Rikku, are you okay?"
Gippal's voice came from behind me; it was unusually tight. I nodded distractedly, my eyes still focused on Lreav, whose mouth was opening and closing as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
I pushed my hair back out of my face and rose slowly, wincing as the muscles in my back protested against the abuse. I was going to be due for some serious relaxation when this was all over.
Those words finally came to Lreav. "I almost did it again," he whispered brokenly, his whole form shaking like a leaf caught in a hurricane. "I almost hurt you."
His whole manner had completely transformed once more – or it was probably more accurate to say that it had reverted to the state he had been in when we'd first reached the plateau. In this development I suddenly saw an opportunity to finally bring an end to this nightmare and so instead of saying something scathing or backing away from Lreav, instead I took a step towards him.
"Lreav – it's okay. You didn't hurt me; I'm fine."
Behind me I heard a snort of disbelief – courtesy of Gippal, and even Elhandra seemed taken aback by my approach. I ignored them and kept my attention focused solely on Lreav.
"I almost killed you. I – I … the blood …"
I had to catch him before he descended into the growingly familiar pit of self-pity. "Lreav. Lreav! It's okay. I'm okay. You didn't hurt me." I stepped forward until I was closer to him than I was to Gippal, and shot him a reassuring smile.
He blinked at me. "It … it is?"
I nodded. "It's okay," I repeated softly.
Lreav swallowed with difficultly. "I … I didn't mean to hurt you. Before. I didn't mean …"
"I know. I know you didn't. Let's just … let's just put that behind us, yeah?" It was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to say.
"Yes … I'd like that. No more – no more blood …?"
I wasn't entirely sure what he meant but I agreed anyway. "No more blood," I reassured him.
"Do you promise?" The answer seemed very important to him.
It was like speaking to a child. "Yes, I promise –" I thought quickly " – as long as you give me the machina."
Lreav frowned and looked at the weapon in his hand as if he had just realised he was holding it. He turned it over in his fingers and then brought it up to his face so that he could study it more closely.
I held out my hand, crossing my fingers behind my back with my free hand. Part of me felt guilty for manipulating Lreav while he was in such an emotional state, but then I remembered how he had manipulated all of us for months, just so that he get close to Gippal. Just so that he could hurt Gippal.
At this thought, any residual guilt abruptly vanished.
Lreav's fingers stroked the machina almost hypnotically. It looked like he wasn't going to just hand it over so I took a deep breath and, reaching out, a placed my own hand alongside his on the barrel of the gun. If he fired it now, there was no way that I would be able to dodge the ensuing blast.
Lreav tensed at my intrusion and to compensate, I widened my smile until it reached almost painful proportions. Lreav had to trust me … he had to …
"Give me the machina, Lreav."
Against my wishes, his fingers tightened around the handle of the gun. I heard a sharp intake of breath that could only have come from Elhandra but steadfastly ignored it, focusing my whole being on the tortured man in front of me.
"I can't."
Relieved to hear him speaking again, even if it was a less than ideal answer, I smiled encouragingly. "Yes, you can."
"No …" His voice sounded pained; there was a desperate edge to it. "I still have … I still have to … He has to be punished."
I didn't need to ask who he was.
"Oh Lreav, don't you see? He's already been punished! You've – you've won, you know? It can all be over … just let me take the machina."
Lreav shook his head stubbornly. "It's not over. I have to finish it!"
Despite his words to the contrary, something told me Lreav's heart just wasn't quite in it anymore. He looked so dejected that I was quite sure I could have wrenched the gun out of his hands with little effort but that was something I didn't want to do unless I had no other choice. And I was fairly certain Lreav would cave in eventually; the machina weapon was just the last stumbling block.
"You can do this. You can end this. Please Lreav. Please do this. If not for you then … then for me."
Lreav wavered. "But he … he killed my mother … " he muttered hoarsely. "He took her away from me and I have to …"
"Oh when will you get over yourself?" Gippal burst out heatedly. "You weren't the only person who lost somethin' that day! My stupid mistake cost me more than you can ever imagine. I lost my da, my step-ma … and I spent several weeks in complete darkness from which one of my eyes never recovered! I was ten years old – ten! – and I'd lost my whole family. So don't talk to me about loss."
And with that furious, and rather unexpected, outburst, all of the pieces suddenly fell into place.
Gippal was – or at least had been – Lreav's stepbrother.
His father had been married to Lreav's mother – before she'd died. And yet, despite all the time we had spent together – me and Gippal and me and Lreav – neither of them had ever mentioned it. I might have been puzzled by this realisation but the reasons for such a silence were obvious. That day, whatever had happened – I was still somewhat hazy on the details – had scarred Lreav and left him with emotional values so twisted that they were barely recognisable.
And had also left him with something he could conveniently blame for his current actions. Part of me was relieved that I finally knew the true story and the other half wanted to kick Gippal for such an inappropriate outburst when I'd be seconds away from getting the machina weapon away from Lreav. I was going to kill him if he'd undone all my hard work.
Luckily, even such a verbal attack from Gippal no longer had the effect it had had on Lreav. Though his face darkened into an ugly mask and he shot a fierce glare over my shoulder at Gippal, he didn't raise the gun, or force my hand away from it. He seemed to have realised that he didn't have anywhere else left to run or any Sphere Break coins left to play.
I breathed an internal sigh of relief and said gently, "He's right, Lreav. You can't go on using that day as an excuse for your actions now. It's holding you back. Like that machina's holding you back."
Lreav looked down at the gun in his hand. His eyes caressed it's form for several long moments and I was just about to open my mouth to cajole him further when his fingers came to rest over mine.
"Here."
He pressed the gun into my waiting hand and without a second's thought, I pulled it away from him and shoved it firmly into my belt, alongside my knives. There was no way Lreav was going to get his hands on that gun again … not that he seemed interested in doing so. He'd hardly moved since finally relinquishing the machina and a heavy silence had dawned on the plateau.
I heard Gippal shift his weight behind me and what sounded like a sniffle from Elhandra's direction but Lreav still didn't respond. He was staring down at the floor, his eyes boring into it with such intensity I began to wonder if he was trying to see through it somehow.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lreav raised his head just enough to meet my expectant gaze. "It's really over … isn't it?" he said, voice barely audible.
"Yes." I didn't know what else to say.
" … So what happens to me now?"
"I …" To be honest, I was completely certain. It wasn't something I'd spent a great deal of time thinking about. After rescuing Gippal and clearing his names, I didn't really have any kind of plan. " … I suppose we'll turn you over to the proper authorities. You've got a lot to answer for, Lreav," I added pointedly.
He didn't seem to hear me. "So I go to prison and you ride off into the sunset with your hero. You get your happily ever after."
"I guess."
He was silent for a moment and when he eventually spoke again, it wasn't to me. He turned slightly and regarded the form of his sister, who was crying openly, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Lhan …?"
She ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and sobbing into his chest. "Why Lreav? Why did you do it? Oh Spira … why?" I could just make out the muffled words.
He stroked her silky braids, face unreadable. "Don't cry, Lhan."
"How can I not?" she choked out incredulously. "You're my brother – my baby brother – and I didn't even realise there was something wrong …"
Lreav cradled her head against his chest. "It's not your fault."
"If I'd been a better sister –"
"No." He sounded stern. "What I said earlier … I didn't mean it really. You were – you've always been – a great sister. I was … I was lucky to have you."
Elhandra pulled back from him slightly so that she could see his face. "Truly?"
"Truly. And you'd better not forget it. Just as you'd better never forget that not matter what I say or do I …" He swallowed, as if the following words were difficult to say. " … I love you."
Before Elhandra could formulate any kind of reply, Lreav released her and turned back to me. As he gazed silently at me, the expression on his face shifted from carefully controlled to something wholly more open. In fact, it was the most honest expression I'd seen on his face since I'd learned of his treachery. There was a certain wistfulness in the lines of his face and just for a moment, he seemed like the old Lreav again.
"Rikku … do you think – what I mean is … well, do you think you and I … if I hadn't – if I hadn't done what I've done, do you think …?"
I reached out and laid my hand on his shoulder. "My choice would certainly have been more difficult."
Lreav's smile was tinged with melancholy. "I really did love you, you know."
"I know."
He took my hand from where it was resting on his shoulder and cradled it in his larger hands for several moments. Then he flashed my one last tired smile and released me, stepping backwards.
Lreav paused then and glanced from Elhandra to me and back again, as if there was something more he wanted to say. But instead of addressing us as I expected him to, he surprised me by directing his gaze over my shoulder to the one member of our company who had been ignored thus far.
"Looks like you won after all."
The words were flat but they held more meaning that I wanted to contemplate.
"I didn't win anythin', Lreav," Gippal replied quietly. "I lost just as much as you that day. Maybe more. I'm just sorry it had to come to this."
Lreav's look was penetrating. "You'll tell my story, won't you? The truth I mean."
If Gippal was puzzled by this strange question, he didn't show it. "You deserve that much."
The other man relaxed fractionally and inclined his head as if silent thanks. Then, before any of us could say or do anything further, he whirled around and began running away from us, towards the edge of the plateau.
"Lreav!" Elhandra cried, chasing after him.
"Where is he …?" I began.
Gippal pushed past me, making me stumbled backwards. "Oh, Spira no – no!"
"Lreav!"
I looked up in time to see Lreav climb up onto the small ledge that circled the plateau. He paused then, and glanced back over his shoulder at the frozen tableau; his weeping sister, Gippal, whose hand was outstretched like some kind of lifeline and me, scraping loose whips of hair out of my face so I could see what was happening.
His eyes met mine and he mouthed something to me.
"I'm sorry."
And then, before any of us could stop him, he jumped.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The Epilogue should be up in a week or so – I'll get it out as fast I can can.
As always, please read, review and enjoy ; )