Disclaimer: Nope, sorry, I don't own anything. Except my cat, Moon Kitty. And really, don't ask where I got that name... It's a long story... (Actually, it's not, but still - don't ask.)

Yaaaay! Update-ish-ness...-ish...osity. o.o -does her happy dance-
And thankies for the reviews, I love reviews, it's why most of us actually post our crap on here. Isn't that sad? A billion and one fans that have stacks of stories sitting on their desks rotting away when they randomly run into this website. It's like, God has finally given us a reason to live.
Okay, maybe that's a little too dramatic. Anyway, enjoy!

Tidus strode down the corridors, loitering at each of the guest room doors for no apparent reason. Basically, he was really really bored. He didn't feel like hanging out with his wife, Yuna - she was currently in her 'Punish Men Severely' stage, and he wasn't in the mood to play the part of the meek, apologizing husband. Gippal was weird, Rikku was Yevon-knows-where, and Paine glared daggers at him whenever he came within a five foot radius of her, so what was there to do?

Bother Baralai, of course.

Walking, humming, and occasionally tripping, Tidus makes his way towards Baralai's Chamber. Making a fist, Tidus prepared to give a loud knock to the tune of 'The Hymn of the Fayth', when Baralai's shout was heard through the walls.

"...What about Rikku?"

'Huh?' Tidus was lost, wondering who Baralai was talking to and why Rikku was at the center of their discussion.

There were muffled voices coming from the room, but he couldn't catch any of the words clearly. Then, Tidus heard - Gippal's voice- say, "...She won't get out of my head!"

It took Tidus a few seconds to work this into the equation. 'Rikku ... in ... Gippal's... head?'

More incomprehensible mumbling from Baralai's Chambers. Finally, he heard Gippal mumble, "...-that Leije guy looks at her-.."

More mumbling. Then,

"...I do believe you're jealous!..."

"...Bullshit!.."

Hooo, boy. This wasn't turning out good. There was a pause in the conversation, and suddenly he heard steps. Coming in his direction.

'Ahhh, what-the-heck-am-I-gonna-do?' Tidus thought desperately, eyes flicking back and forth between Baralai's door and the direction he had come from before. After a few elongated seconds, Tidus decided the best course of action would be to run.

And so he did. Turning from his friend's door, he dashed like a madman down the hall and back to the common room.

Unfortunately, being Tidus, after about ten steps he tripped over the rug, landing in front of the door to the bar. Hands fumbling to push his body back up, Tidus flinched as he realized Gippal had just slammed shut the door to Baralai's Chambers. Frantically, Tidus racked his mind for any more ideas, any more plans of action as to how he'd get himself out of this mess.

There was one. Tidus let his hands fall to the floor, plopped his head on the ground and decided to play dead.

Gippal's boots left loud, echoing 'Stomp-Stomp-Crunch's as he angrily strode towards Tidus's limp body. A look of confusion crossed over his face as he stared dumbfoundingly at the blonde.

"What the.." Gippal paused in mid-sentence and gave Tidus a nice, hearty kick in the stomach.

"Oooomph! Uggh..." Tidus moaned, but still managed to keep his eyes snapped tightly shut.

"Well, at least he's alive." Gippal thought aloud. "Maybe he's asleep?"

'Yes, yes! I'm asleep, Gippal. Asleeeeeep...' Tidus silently told Gippal, hoping that his Al Bhed acquaintance was psychic.

Just in case Gippal was starting to have doubts about him being asleep, Tidus gave a loud, echoing snore, and moaned"Yuuunaa... I ... luuuuve youuuu..."

Gippal gave the 'sleeping' man a very demeaning glare and snorted, "Idiot." The Al Bhed stepped over Tidus, gave him one last good kick, and stormed straight into his current favorite room, the bar.

When Tidus was completely sure that Gippal was, in fact, not coming back out, he sat up and leaned against the wall, contemplating what he had just witnessed.

He was a fairly smart man; he could figure this out, right? Right.

'Let's see. We've got, uh, Rikku in Gippal's head, Gippal jealous of... who was Gippal jealous of? Baralai? No, it wasn't Baralai.. Oh yeah. Leije.

But then, why would Gippal be jealous of Leije?'

There was a pause in Tidus's in-depth thinking.

Then, a light bulb went off in the young man's head.

"Oh. My. God. . . Yuna!"

-

Yuna sat comfortably sprawled across the cushions of her couch, twirling her braid with her fingers and letting her mind wander, when Tidus burst through her door. Glaring at her husband for wrecking the serene atmosphere, she sighed, "What..?"

"It's..He- Rikku.." Tidus gasped, wresting his hands on his knees. Those twenty steps had really taken a lot out of him. And why was he here again, anyway? Wasn't he avoiding Yuna? Huh.

"What is it, Tidus?" Yuna stretched and straightened her back. "What did you say about Rikku?"

Oh yeah! Rikku.

Tidus took a breath and let a smirk encompass his features. "Gippal has the hots for Rikku!"

Yuna blinked at him. "...What..?"

"I said-"

"I know what you said," Yuna snapped at him. "I mean, where did you get that idea, and why did you run in here to tell me?"

"Gippal - I heard him say it!"

Yuna's eyes widened. "Wha - w-what?"

"Gippal - I hea-"

"Okay - TIDUS! I got it." Yuna ran a hand through her bangs and, lifting herself up from the couch, headed towards the door.

"Where are you goin'?" Tidus asked, blinking, as if he had no idea why his wife was suddenly upset.

"I'm just going to talk with Rikku, okay?" She left, almost slamming the door, and at the last second softly closing it.

Tidus stood there for a few minutes, not sure what he should do. Tidus did here Gippal say that - right? Well, at least he thought he heard Gippal say something about liking Rikku. And that was close enough, right?

But now what was he going to do... Rikku and Yuna were talking, Gippal was drinking, Paine was being.. Paine... Oh! He could go bother Baralai!

Yuna had had one hell of a headache. Her ears were ringing and she felt incredibly sick. During all of this, what does Tidus decide to do? He comes bursting into their Chambers, jumping and screaming directly in Yuna's ear. That was the last thing she needed - the first being somewhere nice, peaceful and really quiet.

Yuna had had one hell of a headache. Her ears were ringing and she felt incredibly During all of this, what does Tidus decide to do? He comes bursting into their Chambers, jumping and screaming directly in Yuna's ear. That was the last thing she needed - the first being somewhere nice, peaceful and quiet.

Maybe what she needed was a break; she could head out into Bevelle Temple's 'backyard' garden and sit there for a few hours. Maybe four, or five - hell, the rest of the day. Yeah, she knew it was awfully rude of her to tell Tidus she was going to talk to Rikku. It was lying, after all - and that's not something Yuna does willingly. With that on her mind, maybe when she's on her way back she'd have a small chat with Rikku. Just to clear her conscience. But honestly, Yuna really did need a break from it all; some time alone and to get rid of that damn migraine.

'I sound absolutely awful, now that I think about it,' Yuna thought regretfully to herself. She wasn't taking Tidus for granted - honest. She would probably die if he disappeared again, but she really wasn't in one of her best moods today.

Wandering outside, Yuna somewhat happily made her way to the garden, even if there was a slight hint of agitation in her step.

Beautiful maroon, bright yellow, and eccentric orange flowers and roses were in bloom over the entire premises of the garden. Hundreds of ferns flocked around the dirt path and the grass was healthy and flourishing. Taking a deep, content breath, Yuna took a turn off of the path, intent on finding a spot more private and relaxing. Coming up to a few broadleaf trees planted close together, the young former Summoner headed towards a small spring.

Just as she was prepared to let out a content sigh, Yuna heard a voice. Or maybe it was more than one - she listened - yep, two voices. Rikku and Leije.

'Spy time or what?' Yuna thought roguishly, her pessimistic mood leaving temporarily.

Leije leaned against the railing an antique looking bridge, gazing out into the clear flowing water of the spring. There was a pensive and contemplative look plastered on his face as he stared; eyes searching for something, but unclear on their target.

Unbeknownst to him, Rikku was lurking around behind him, attempting to noiselessly cross the bridge and surprise him.

As she approached him a few feet away, Leije nonchalantly mumbled, "Hey, Rikku."

"Awwww!" The bubbly Al Bhed came into full view, giggling absurdly loud. "How'd you know that I was here?" She whined.

Not even glancing in her direction, Leije stated, "I'm psychic." There was no sarcasm or humor in his voice, even though he was, of course, joking.

Rikku gave him a curious look and shrieked, "You are so weird!" She gave a dramatic grown as she stood next to him and copied his pose; Rikku leaned against the railing with her elbows, a mere foot away from Leije.

A comfortable silence passed between the two.

Then, Rikku broke it by asking, "What are ya doin' out here?"

"...Thinking," Leije replied after a moment of spacing out.

There was more silence.

"What are ya thinkin' about, then?"

"..Nothing." Leije paused, looking extremely agitated. "..It's nothing."

Rikku glanced at him, not worried about him noticing. Leije seemed so distant. Like he was a thousand leagues away, even though in reality he was only a couple feet away from her. Even so, the atmosphere - the aura - around him seemed wrong. It was silently screaming to Rikku, 'Get away - run while you can,' but at the same time it was beckoning her forward. The right kind of wrong, you know? Or was it the wrong kind of right...

Remembering something from the sphere she had viewed, a new group of thoughts entered her head. Who was that little boy in the sphere?

"Leije?" Rikku called out meekly, causing him to break away from his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You don't happen to have any.. siblings, do you? Maybe a brother?" Rikku questioned, doing her best to look interested, but not too interested.

"No. I wish I had... I was an only child."

"Any friends..? Cousins, maybe?"

Leije gave her an odd look, and raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'No - what a stupid question'.

Blushing slightly, Rikku tore her gaze away from his. Usually he was really nice and funny but right now he was just... Arrr, he was just being a meanie!

Oh well. Everyone has little personality slips, right?

"Well, you have friends now, right? And someday you'll have family again, too." Rikku smiled up at him, lightly pinching his arm, but in the end, holding on to it.

"Rikku?"

"Huh?" She blinked and looked up, clearly startled out of her 'this is true love and I am a fairy princess' fantasy.

Gazing into her bright, green eyes, Leije tentatively bent down his neck and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Anyone here read 'TTYL'? I worship that book. That and 'Odd Thomas'. Oh, next chapter is my favorite! YAY! Wootnessosity for RikkuGippalness!
And again, if anyone notices any, I mean ANY grammatical errors, could you tell me? 'Cause I can be a grammar nazi sometimes and it kills me to let anything slip. So don't worry, you wouldn't be rude in saying so. In fact, I'm ordering you to:O
Oh yeah, another really weird thing that happened - when I uploaded this to the doc manager, the editor went all freaky on me and took out all of the commas and question marks, ect. in dialogue. Like it said "Rikku" instead of "Rikku?". It really pissed me off; I'm thinking that is what happened to some of the other people who posted - they aren't as bad with grammar as they may seem to be. (Sum of 'em, that is)

Thankies for reading and REVIEW PLEASE-nudge, nudge, wink, wink-