A/N : Sorry About the wait. I'm not going to make excuses, the answer is plain and simple. I am a filthy perfectionist, and I spent hours and hours trying to make every little word perfect and it still doesn't sound right to me, and that's why this chapter is longer than the others. So I'll need tons of reviews to see if I'm just wasting my time.

I won't babble for hours, because no one really came here to read my Author's note now did they?

Chapter 3

Gippal found himself on his bed, feeling light headed from the ferocious sun light beating on him through a small window positioned over it. Rikku had been in the bathroom for half and hour, much longer than it took to take a shower, but the water was still running. By now it was starting to worry him. What if she fell and broke her neck?

No. He wasn't worried about her. Why would he be worried about her? He was worried that Brother would kill him if he found Rikku dead in his shower, if any thing. Why would he be worried about a stupid little girl? So what if she died? No big deal. It's not like it's the end of the world or anything. He was most definitely not worried about her.

Quickly Gippal jolted over to the door flinging it open loudly, then stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. The shower curtain was clear and showed every detail of the things behind it, which at this time was Rikku showering somehow blissfully unaware of any one else's existence.

For a minute or two he stood shocked just staring at the way the water dripped off of her hair, the way it followed the curves of her tender little body, and thinking about how much he wanted to be in there with her, how much he wanted to follow the contour of her body with his own hands. He took a step forward letting the desire consume him.

Little by little he began to become more aware of the risk he was putting himself into by just standing there. It didn't look good that's for sure. Just as he turned to head out of the bathroom, he heard it. Rikku's soft voice rang out softly, hitting the first note in a pretty song. The words seemed inaudible under the pounding water, but the gentle melody rose above all else. This song was too sad for such a sunny little girl to be singing.

She wasn't particularly a good singer but her voice wasn't terrifying either, it just sounded soft and maybe sort of … angelic. He closed the door quietly and sat down resting his head against it. He didn't need to see her showering to enjoy this. So maybe her voice wasn't the best in the world, maybe the song wasn't Rikku enough, or maybe it was just perfect. It doesn't matter that's just the way Gippal heard it.

Breakfast was eaten in silence filled with glares Brother had been giving to the leader of the Machina Faction. Gippal however was oblivious to them. Buddy and Shinra ate with them, not even daring to look up, and Rikku was taking a nap with her dripping head resting on the table, her hair almost falling into her bowl of soggy half sugar half cereal. The way she snored really softly and daintily was almost cute, you'd never expect her to be such a snippy little thing.

A bowl of cereal of his own was laid out in front of him but he didn't even touch it as it grew more and more disgustingly soggy, instead he stared at Rikku, carefully taking in every little detail of her face. Watching as her shadowy eyelashes opened to reveal the gorgeous eyes that he loved so much.

"Morning," she mumbled through a yawn and rubbed her eyes, then scanned the environment briefly before looking to Gippal and smiled, "You haven't been off with any girls while I was sleeping have you?"

He grinned back and ruffled her hair, "You were only asleep for twenty minutes, Cid's girl," he got up and tried to clean up the bowls, but she struggled to keep hers, still wanting to eat the soggy mush.

After a few minutes of poking Brother, with the same principal as machina poke it and maybe it'll come to life, they headed back out side to work on the Celsius. Mainly Gippal doing all the work and Rikku pestering him, (about time for a switch) and Brother watching over them carefully more looking out that they didn't do any thing to his airship rather than doing any thing to each other. So naturally Rikku flirted insanely with the man, trying to get attention from her brother, with no avail. The only thing this accomplished was getting Gippal to flirt back with just as much velocity.

"Gippal!" She screamed from a few feet away, her back turned away from him, so he couldn't tell what was going on but she sounded awfully panicked. Immediately Gippal dropped the piece he was working on and ran over to her placing his hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he whispered leaning over her shoulder.

She looked back at him with her eyes wide with panic, but didn't move for a few seconds, then quickly scuttled behind him pointing to the pile of oily machina parts she was sitting at, "Th-There's something moving in there." she wrapped her fingers around his waist and pulled herself up to his back, squeezing him tightly, "Can you kill it?"

His eyes widened in surprise. There was definitely something moving in the parts, it sputtered oil sloppily. He should have been suspicious of that, and Rikku actually being scared. The only thing he'd ever seen her run from before was a thick peel of lightning. Instead he poked at it only to get a big glob of oil spat in his face. She cracked up.

"I can't believe you fell for it!" she said between laughs. He scooped a handful oil off of his face and threw it at Rikku, nailing her right between the eyes. That really seemed to tick her off but she wasn't surprised at all.

"Eww, this is never ever going to come off!" she glared at him as it began to drip down her face and off her chin.

"You asked for it!" Gippal sputtered while trying to scrape the stubborn grease off of his face, it left a dark stain.

"What ever. We're never going to get any work done this way," she crossed her arms over her chest.

Something had changed about her recently. Today she only smiled when throwing oil at him, other than that she just scowled. Well she had smiled at him and every body else today, but she hadn't really smiled. Today her eyes squinted too much, her teeth made too much of an appearance, she didn't laugh only snickered under her breath, and not one attempt at happiness reached her eyes.

As Rikku tried to walk away from him, he reached out automatically grabbing her arm with his oily covered fingers, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Geez, it's just a little oil don't get so pissed," she whispered trying to use the oil as a lubricant to side out of his grasp, only making him feel the need to tighten his fist.

"No, not the oil, you. You're being so fake. Do you really hate being here so much, you get depressed because you know I can take you some where, all you have to do is ask. Don't you think I can see--?"

"Gippal let go that hurts!" Rikku yelped. Little by little while he talked his fist had grown tighter on her arm, and by the time he looked down her fingers were starting to turn blue. He hadn't meant to do any thing to her; maybe he just forgot her arm was in his hand. It killed him that he hurt her, but it killed him more that she was hurt, that she was suffering.

"Damn it, I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to…" she flinched as he reached a hand out to her, but she still grabbed it firmly.

"I know, its okay," she let lose a soft smile that reached her eyes, "Come on we need to get to work, or I'll be stuck on the ground forever,"

Gippal laid a kiss on each of the finger prints on her arm, making her giggle, "What's that supposed to mean? You're sad because you're here?"

She looked away from him, "Hey look it's lunch time!" she giggled and picked up a back pack filled with sandwiches that Gippal's assistant had made for them. Rikku slung it over her back and headed for Mushroom Rock Road, and Gippal followed her closely behind.

The person who rented hovers was already on a lunch break, and as far as they could tell they had been on one all day, so Gippal and Rikku sat down to eat their lunch all by them selves just out side of D'jose. Rikku ate her sandwich slowly and gazed out at the bland scenery as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

Finally she whispered, "I'm not sad because I'm here. You have to be really dense to ever think that Rikku is sad! I just don't like being on the ground for to long it locks you inside your head and makes you think about things you don't want to think about. It makes you think --" she blushed and looked at him slightly embarrassed, "Never mind you already think I'm stupid."

"I don't just think your stupid," she gave him a hard pinch, "So does that mean you'd never want to be in a place like this?"

She spit out her tongue with her cheeks becoming redder by the second, "Why does that concern you?"

A smile spread across Gippal's lips. He didn't think she'd notice anything suggestive in that sentence. He just had to know, and the only way to know for certain was to ask her. From you know common interest…

"Even my ultimate charm couldn't lure you away from your milling adventures?"

"Don't you ever get tired of it? Standing in one spot all the time, knowing what the morning holds before it will happen, and never having a big adventure? And believe me Gippal my charm would lure you away from any thing with just a wink of the eye," She giggled and fluttered her eye lashes.

"Why would I get bored when people act differently every day? You don't have to see new people all the time to be excited that would be just hollow and lonely, always being a stranger, you know?"

"You've changed," she said gently between bites.

"What? Really?" he shook his head. Gippal had no idea what she was talking about, if any thing it was the two of them who resisted the effects of time, and remained unchanging for eternity. She certainly hadn't changed.

"Yeah, you're stupider." she smiled sheepishly, "A few years ago you would have agreed, 'Settling down is a bad thing, meeting new people every day and having colossal adventures. Saving the world is the only true destiny; it's just whether you chose the right events to activate it. Sometimes if you meet the right people, or over here the right conversations any thing is possible and every little day you rot away 'settling' down with replaceable people, or even irreplaceable mediocre people who you can find a better person to be with who wants to travel the world too.' I believe you told me that,"

"There is no one right thing for every one, Cid's girl. Maybe your happier pretending to be happy every day and flying the skies, and I'm happier being real with my self and down to earth," she gasped harshly and began opening and closing her mouth like a fish. Gippal didn't have any idea what had offended her.

"I'm not pretending any thing! Why would I pretend to be happy, do I look like I'm trying to be happy to you now? Jackass!" she yelled, then rose immediately to her feet, balling her fists up tightly. Rikku was so adorable when she was angry. "And you! Do you really think your being real to your self? All those girls of yours, there has to be some little voice in your head that's telling you the truth! You can't just not listen to it and say your being real, that voice counts too!"

"Why is it every time you try and think of something wrong with me, you go back to me and my girls? There is nothing wrong with someone my age--"

"YES there is! How many girls do you make cry? How many of those girls actually love you, only to find your reason for not loving them back it that there is only one of them? How is it you think I'm so wrong when I'm going to end up coming to your house every night ten years from now just to let you know you're not totally alone, even though every one hates you? Those girls don't last forever, eventually there won't be any left for you to play around with, and those looks … that I've heard you possess will go. You won't have any body!"

"What makes you think you'll do any better? Let's face it kid you're not smart, and if you are no one can see that. You're beautiful, and sexy, and you never let any one see any thing but the flaky dumb coating! And the only men who will ever want you is people who want a dumb hot suck, and you'll be miserable not having the real people you always talk about!"

He struck a nerve.

"Why is there always something wrong with me?" she screamed, "I'm too dumb! I'm too naïve! I'm too damn good-looking! Why do you hate who I am so much, and then keep pushing and pushing and making me hate myself!" Rikku breathed in deeply and waited for an answer.

She upset was because of him, it made him feel miserable. The last thing in the world he'd ever want was to make her unhappy. If he ended up alone he knew Rikku really would be there by his side every day making sure he was okay, and she would have a family and life of her own, if any one got the chance to be near her they'd have to be insane not to love her.

Now was not a time to lie.

"I'm sorry. You just piss me off sometimes, and not because hate you" she backed up a little bit the look in her face said she was bracing for another scolding; ready to run "You're a really good girl. I'll do any thing so you don't get hurt, I don't want to see you ending up with some bum, who doesn't treat you right. You're so much better than that. Maybe I've been just saying all the bad things I see in you to your face because that's what I worry about, and I simply can't stop worrying about you, ever. It won't do any good to tell you the good things when I can't even pin point them myself. Just don't be sad okay, sweetheart, you know the world cries with you," he paused for a bit to look at her face, she was listening, and she had a half smile resting on her lips.

Gippal felt his heart pulse hard against his chest. There were so many more things he needed to say, but he had never seen her so mad before, and he didn't want Rikku to think he was just saying it to make her feel better. He didn't even know what exactly he wanted to say, but once he opened his mouth maybe it would tell them both something neither of them knew.

"Aww, that was almost sweet. Someone's been practicing their pick-up lines," She laughed breathlessly, her eyes locked on his and she immediately fell silent, her legs started shaking, but she didn't blush. Strands of oily blond hair stuck to her face the rest of her hair was mussed, far from glamorous but she never looked better. The boulder sitting on her head wasn't there at least for now and she smiled really, really smiled. It spread across her whole body. As her legs began to desert her she sped towards Gippal falling into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and instantaneously he lifted her off the ground pulling her tight in a hug, never wanting to let go.

R&R Please?