Thanks again to everyone for the great reviews! This was a hard chapter to write! I hate writer's block (and I seem to get it often!)
Hope you guys enjoy Chapter 5!
Rikku emerged from her room quietly, her hair freshly washed, and put up in it's usual style. She had her gunner dressphere equipped. She tip-toed down the hallway past Gippal's room. She definitely didn't want to deal with him so early in the morning. Especially since he saw her naked. Rikku blushed at the thought. As old as she was, she was still pretty innocent when it came to the opposite sex. She had only had one serious boyfriend her entire life, and things didn't get too far with him.
"Gippal, that jerk." She thought, "He is such a pervert."
Suddenly an arm shot from around the corner that Rikku had passed, and caught her around the mid-section. "OOF!" Rikku let her breath out as the strong arm wrapped around her waist, and startled her. Rikku was suddenly pulled around the corner, and into Gippal's broad chest.
"Hey there, Cid's girl." Gippal whispered as he pulled Rikku into a secluded corner.
"Gippal! You….mmmffmmmf…" Gippal silenced Rikku's angry outburst by putting his hand over her mouth.
"Be quiet loud mouth." Gippal hissed into Rikku's ear. "I want to show you something."
Rikku reached up to give Gippal a good slap in the face. He caught her wrist quickly, and held it tight. He clicked his tongue at her. "Tck, Tck, Tck, Cid's girl, that wasn't very nice."
"Well, it wasn't very nice of you last night, to strip me from all of my clothes! You jerk!"
Gippal let out a loud laugh, but quickly quieted down. "Cid's girl, come on. I don't care about seeing you naked. I had an attendant come in and help get you undressed. I wasn't even in the room. We couldn't find your pajamas in that jungle you call sleeping quarters. Maybe you would've known that if you weren't a raging alcoholic…"
"Hmph! I am not an alcoholic. You're one to talk! Don't you remember Buddy's 21st birthday?" Rikku was insulted and relieved at the same time.
"Gippal," she finally said quietly, "Aren't you supposed to be meeting the New Yevon Praetor and his daughter soon?"
Gippal sighed quietly. "Come with me." He said, ignoring her question. Gippal motioned for Rikku to follow him. Rikku, although annoyed with Gippal's behavior, was curious about what he was doing. She followed closely behind him, watching his heavy boots hit the carpeted floors of the hallway without a sound. Gippal led her through the unusually quiet hallway and into his room. "What are we…" Rikku started to say.
"Shhh!" Gippal put a finger to his lips and led her through his surprisingly tidy room. They approached a wall to the left of Gippal's large bed, and Gippal pushed a small dark spot on the blue wall. Rikku watched as a door magically appeared and opened on the wall.
"What the? What is this?" Rikku asked. Gippal smiled and grabbed Rikku's wrist and pulled her into the cool dimly lit hallway that had opened up in the wall. "This is an emergency evacuation area. There is one in my room, and one in Nooj and Baralai's room."
"Wow." Rikku said quietly as she followed Gippal down the long hallway. She followed a curve first to the left and then to the right until they stopped at a supposed dead end. Gippal ran his hand down the smooth concrete wall until he found a small groove. He stuck his finger in it, and pushed downward. The large wall shook, and then a loud "click" resonated from the other side. Gippal leaned against the heavy door and pushed with all his might. Rikku watched as the muscles in his arms bulged.
"A little help?" Gippal said to her with gritted teeth. Rikku joined him in pushing the heavy door, and together they pushed it open. Sunlight hit Rikku right in the face, and she had to shield her eyes from the shock of the brightness. Rikku walked slowly outside, and looked around her. She and Gippal were on the outside perimeter of Bevelle.
Rikku looked behind her from where she and Gippal had just emerged. She could see the giant towers and pillars of Bevelle's palace buildings towering over the huge wall that surrounded the entire city. Rikku heard a loud whirring to her right, and turned to see Gippal approaching a small airship.
"Gippal!" Rikku yelled, as she ran towards the hovering vehicle. "What are you doing!"
"Princess, don't you ever want to escape? Even if just for a day?"
"What? Your meeting Gippal. No! Don't!" Rikku reached out and grabbed the back of Gippal's shirt as he tried to board the airship. Gippal turned back to Rikku and looked her in the eyes.
"Short Stuff, you are my bodyguard, so you have to stay with me. Well, I am getting on this airship. I'm getting away from all of this for a day or so. I'm escaping. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay out here. Either way, I am going."
"Gippal, why? You are such an important person here now. This isn't like the old days. You can just run away like you did back at Home."
"I'm tired of all the bullshit Rikku." Gippal said loudly. "They want me to meet this girl. To marry her. Fine, I am willing to do that. For my people, I would give my life. But before I do, I want one more taste of the freedom I used to have. One more time to feel like I don't have a care in this fucking world. You should understand that feeling. Your freedom was taken away the moment you became Yuna's guardian. But you did it. It didn't matter. You did it for Yuna."
Rikku looked into Gippal's face, his mouth twisted into a frown. Rikku noticed he looked tired, older. Not the usual Gippal. She sighed deeply. "Where are we going then Gippal?"
Gippal smiled at her and offered her his hand. He hoisted her inside the airship and sat down behind the controls. "Wherever we want." He grinned as Rikku felt the airship lurch forward and take off into the blue sky.
Meanwhile
"Gippal! Come on man! 30 minutes and the Praetor will be here!" Baralai pounded on Gippal's bedroom door. "Gippal!" he yelled loudly again. He reached down and turned Gippal's doorknob, and was surprised that Gippal's usually locked door opened.
"Hmm.." Baralai walked into Gippal's large room, and approached his neatly made bed. He spotted a piece of white paper pinned to Gippal's pillow. Baralai grabbed it and read its contents:
Nooj and Baralai,
Went for one last hurrah. One last taste of freedom. Don't worry, I have Cid's girl with me. The brave bodyguard…ha! You guys cover for me. (You know you can handle it, you've done it in the past.) I will be back soon.
Gippal
"Damn it!" Baralai sighed as he took the note quickly to Nooj.
Meanwhile
Rikku felt a forward jolt as the airship Gippal was piloting came to a stop and landed. She got up from her seat and cracked her back. She must've fallen asleep during the ride.
"Where are we Gippal?" Rikku rubbed her eyes as she approached the front windows of the airship and looked outside. Desert as far as she could see. "Bikanel? We're in Bikanel? Why?"
Gippal stood up from the pilot's seat and stretched. "Because Princes, I want to visit my old friends and check out the excavations." Gippal grabbed two duffle bags from the back of the ship and tossed one to Rikku.
"Urf! Gippal what is this?"
"Your stuff. I packed it and put it here because I knew that you couldn't resist my charm, and persuasiveness, and you would be compelled to come along with me." Gippal laughed as he walked past Rikku, and thumped her on her arm.
"You are such an idiot!" Rikku yelled at him as she ran after Gippal, who had exited the airship. The two started towards the excavation site in the distance.
Meanwhile
"What was he thinking?" Nooj shouted angrily. "We have the Praetor of New Yevon and his daughter scheduled to arrive any minute, and Gippal decides that now would be a good time for a mini-vacation!"
Paine, Yuna, and Baralai all stood around Nooj who held the note Gippal had left.
"And what made Rikku decide to go with him?" Yuna wondered out loud.
"I'm sure Gippal dragged her along so he could have someone to tease constantly." Paine said quietly. "The important matter now, though, is what do we tell the Praetor and his daughter."
"We don't tell them the truth, that's for sure." Baralai said.
"We tell them that Gippal is sick, in bed, and he's not to be disturbed. Tell all attendants not to go into Gippal's room. And we apologize. Profusely." Nooj said, as he tore up the note that Gippal wrote. "Gippal's going to owe us big time."
Meanwhile
"Nhadala! Muhk desa hu caa!" (Long time no see!) Gippal ran up to Nhadala and gave her a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Gippal! What a greeting! It's been almost a year since your last visit!"
"Well, that's why I've come back. I miss this place. I've even brought a luggage girl here with me."
Gippal turned to show Nhadala Rikku, but didn't see her behind him. He heard Nhadala laugh. "Is that your luggage girl over there?"
Gippal turned to his right and saw Rikku surrounded by 15 workers, all men, and all flirting shamelessly with Rikku. Nhadala noticed a slight glint in Gippal's eye.
"Jealousy?" She thought as she watched Gippal's jaw clench at the sound of Rikku's laughter. Nhadala, thinking that Gippal was about to go and pound on 15 guys, thought she'd better break things up. "Ymm nekrd kioc! Pylg du fung! Ed'c hud mega oui ryjah'd caah y kenm pavuna." (All right guys! Back to work! It's not like you haven't seen a girl before.)
The men all grumbled, some of them making comments in Al Bhed.
Rikku finally got to come over to where Gippal and Nhadala stood. "Nhadala! How have you been!" Rikku greeted the Al Bhed woman happily.
"I'm great Rikku! So I hear that you are Gippal's luggage girl?"
"Puh! I'm his bodyguard. I would never carry that great oaf's luggage. He had one suitcase just for his hair products!"
Nhadala laughed at Gippal who stood next to Rikku with his arms crossed. Gippal knew that Nhadala would start her wise-cracks at any moment, so he decided to change the subject.
"Nhadala, how about you show us to our sleeping quarters, and then take me on a tour of the place. I want to see the kinds of progress and changes that have been made here."
"Of course, you two follow me. I'll show you to your tents. It'll be nice to have some company around, other than a bunch of workers." Nhadala motioned for Rikku and Gippal to follow her.
Rikku caught up with Gippal and whispered, "Spend the night! Gippal! What are you thinking? Don't you realize that we are in the middle of the desert? What are you planning on doing out here?"
"Relax, Princess. I'm covered back in Bevelle. We are here to enjoy the beautiful weather, the great scenery. Speaking of beautiful weather.." Gippal winked at Rikku, and then turned his back on her. Rikku heard a noise behind her, and turned and saw a huge sand storm approaching them. Rikku turned her back as Gippal had done, and shielded her eyes. The sand surrounded them just as they reached the sleeping quarters.
"Oui yna ehcyha." (You are insane.) She said to Gippal as she ran to catch up with Nhadala. Gippal laughed loudly as he watched Rikku whisper something to Nhadala, and the ladies start to laugh.
Meanwhile
Nooj and Baralai waited at the front gates of the main palace in Bevelle. They watched as two figures approached in the distance surrounded by numerous attendants.
"Here we go." Baralai said quietly as Praetor Jovich and his daughter finally arrived.
"Welcome to Bevelle Praetor Jovich and Miss Elisa. I assume your trip was fine?. I am Nooj, a Master of the Hope of Spira, and this is a fellow Master, Baralai."
Praetor Jovich looked down at the two men with his coal black eyes. "The trip was good gentlemen." He finally said in a deep, gritty voice. "As you know, this is my daughter Elisa."
Nooj and Baralai both shook hands with the very elegant, beautiful daughter of the Praetor. She had dark red hair, which was very curly, and piled high on her head. It was held securely by diamond-studded barrettes. She was a tall girl, and held herself very primly. She looked to be around Rikku's age.
"It is nice to meet both of you gentlemen." Her light blue eyes glanced into Nooj and Baralai's as she spoke in her quiet, yet clear voice.
"The pleasure is all ours Miss Elisa."
"Praetor Jovich looked around behind Nooj and Baralai. "I am confused. Was the other Master not supposed to be here today to greet my daughter and I? His name is Gippal, correct?"
"That is correct Praetor Jovich, but I must apologize on his behalf. Gippal is very ill today. He is resting in his private quarters. He sent Baralai and myself here to greet you instead, and wishes to express his deepest apologies for not being here himself. He knows how important this meeting was with you and your daughter, and if he could've been here, he would have definitely been. For now, he will remain in his chambers until he is feeling better, and you and your daughter are welcome to stay in Bevelle as long as you wish. We have your rooms ready. The finest in the palace."
Nooj took a deep breath after the long explanation he just gave, and waited for the Praetor's answer.
Praetor Jovich ran his hand through his graying moustache, and seemed to reflect on Nooj's story for a few minutes. Finally he spoke up. "That is fine, Master Nooj. Elisa and I will stay here until Master Gippal is feeling better. The arrangement between he and my daughter is of the utmost importance. Please let Master Gippal know that we both wish for his state of health to return to normal as soon as possible."
"We will let Gippal know Praetor. And thank you for understanding. Please, follow the attendants here, and they will show you to your room. We have a wonderful dinner waiting for you once you are settled."
Baralai showed Praetor Jovich and Elena through the front doors of the main hall, and watched as the attendants showed them up the lift and out of sight.
"Gippal is one lucky bastard." Nooj said quietly.
"Why is that? Because he is marrying a beautiful girl?" Baralai replied, smiling.
"No, because he has friends like us." Nooj said with a slight smile on his face.
End of Chapter 5
I would again like to say thanks to all of my awesome reviewers! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I already have almost all of chapter 6 written, so that should be up within the next week! Please read and review!
Thanks Everyone!