Dancing All Around Me : A Rikku x Gippal Fanfiction

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A/N : Thank you to those of you who gave reviews. :D It's so nice knowing that some people like my story... Anyway! I decided to incorporate a little bit of Al Bhed into this chapter, since it seems appropriate. So whatever you see underlined after the Al Bhed = the translation in English. Hopefully it's not too bothersome.

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CHAPTER EIGHT : Together

Once Rikku had blurted out that one word, she fell deeper into her surprise when, unexpectedly, she had been pulled upward into a soft embrace with the young man leaning over her. She found herself in Gippal's arms, which at first felt slightly awkward since half of her body was still lying down while the upper half was enveloped in the embrace.

Initially, Rikku's first notion was to push Gippal away, but she could do little seeing as how she still felt a little weak-headed from fainting. And despite her situation, a little part of her inside rejoiced at being held as she was by Gippal. Thus, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointment when he finally pulled away, supporting her with his strong arms as he examined Rikku's shocked face.

"Yna oui ugyo, Rikku?" Are you okay, Rikku? Gippal's face held an expression of worry as he gazed down at the blond-headed Al Bhed woman.

Rikku found herself staring into Gippal's eye (for he had an eyepatch over the other), lost in the spiraling depth that was so similar to her own emerald swirls. Her heart began racing, pounding, threatening to break from within her body. Finally, she broke the silent engagement, averting her gaze to the side, towards the ground. She was shocked at just how ridiculous she was behaving. What's happening to me...? Why do I feel this way? Her reply came out in an almost-whisper.

"Oac... e's veha." Yes... I'm fine. Against her will, she found herself blushing, her cheeks shading into a rosy tinge as she tried her best not to meet Gippal's eye.

"E's kmyt..." I'm glad... Relief was evident in his tone of voice as he smiled down at Rikku, reveling in the way the young Al Bhed woman felt so right in his arms, so perfect, as if they were meant to be. "If you had been hurt, I..." He drifted off, his thought unfinished.

Rikku turned her gaze back to Gippal, ignoring the fact that just a few seconds ago, she had been trying her best to avoid his look. Their eyes locked, and Rikku saw what seemed to be a deeper emotion, something she had rarely seen from him. She then turned away again, feeling the intense burning in her cheeks. Just don't look at him...don't look at him.

After a moment, Gippal spoke again, breaking the immense quietude. "... Can you stand, Rikku?"

He received a nod from her, and as she proceeded to rise, he helped lift her onto her feet. Once Rikku was stable and capable of standing without aid, Gippal reluctantly released his hands on her, letting them drop to his side. Again, Rikku felt disappointment at the loss of his touch.

It was now that Rikku noticed Aure and another female standing nearby. She blinked in surprise. Were they watching the whole time...? How could I not have seen them? Rikku smiled sheepishly at Aure, who was standing there silently with a somewhat grim look on her face. Then she turned to the stranger, who stood off to the side, pale, small hands entwined modestly in front of her.

"You are...?"

Gippal sauntered over to the woman and stood beside her, turning to face Rikku as he introduced her. "Rikku, this is a friend of mine. Her name is Teyha. And Teyha, this is Rikku, a good..." He trailed off, then cleared his throat before finishing his statement. "A friend of mine from the past."

Teyha bowed politely towards Rikku. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rikku."

Rikku surveyed Teyha before nodding her head and grinning. "Pleasure to meet you, too!"

They smiled at each other for a brief moment before they heard Aure purposefully clear her throat in a rather conspicuous manner, as if giving a hint to Rikku. The Al Bhed girl looked at the crimson-haired woman before realizing why she had done that.

"Oh! Yeah, this is my friend, Aure. We met in Luca, and now she's gonna be traveling with me." Rikku gave the enigmatical woman a quirky smile.

Teyha bowed again, and Gippal merely nodded his head in Aure's direction. Aure, likewise, gave a silent acknowledgment. Rikku, smiling, looked from Aure to Gippal, then to Teyha, and finally back to Gippal. Why do I get the feeling that ...that there's something between those two? She continued smiling, though inside, she felt something clench in her heart.

"Ahh..." Gippal rubbed the back of his head with one hand while his other hand was propped on his hip. He glanced at Aure, then lowered his gaze. "About... pushing you over earlier..."

Aure smiled and shook her head. "Forget it. It's nothing, really."

Gippal grinned. "I still wanna say sorry, though."

Eyeing him for a moment, Aure laughed. "Fine, suit yourself. You're forgiven." She had noticed that this Gippal was evidently a very important person to Rikku. After witnessing the incident earlier, it was obvious that he in turn felt the same way for Rikku. It wasn't too surprising, really.

"Okay... good." Gippal looked from Aure to Rikku. "An Insect Matriarch attacked you... but that doesn't make any sense."

Teyha nodded. "Insect Matriarchs aren't usually found in Mi'ihen. They're much stronger than the native fiends here." Teyha had, of course, watched the whole incident earlier, interesting as it was. Despite the fact that she had only just met him, she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy strike her heart as she had noticed how Gippal had reacted to Rikku's collapse. Instinctively, she had developed a slight feeling of resentment towards Rikku, just for the fact that Gippal shared something with her.

"Maybe..." Rikku bounced around in her spot, her hands flailing as she came up with a solution. "Maybe the fiends are traveling!"

Aure frowned. "Traveling? That sounds a little... absurd."

"Absurd but plausible," Gippal replied thoughtfully. "The fiends have been acting strangely in the past few days."

"And what evidence do you have?" Aure crossed her arms and eyed Gippal with a questioning look.

"Well, it's not reliable, but... when I left Djose, a Lupus tried attacking me."

"That's normal."

"Yeah, but still... it's evidence, right?"

"That doesn't prove that the fiends are acting strange. A fiend's normal instinct is to attack what it doesn't know."

Gippal threw his hands up as in frustration. "Why do you have to argue with me? This must be your way of getting back at me for pushing you over." His tone of voice had no trace of bitterness, however.

With a small laugh and a smile, Aure shifted her weight to her left leg and uncrossed her arms, letting them fall to her sides. "No, it's nothing like that. I just don't think your evidence is good enough."

"But the fact that the fiends could be moving from their habitats is the only possible reason we have right now," Teyha interjected.

"Yeah," Rikku agreed, nodding her head. "I think so."

The group silently accepted Rikku's claim. They were thinking for a few minutes when Rikku piped up.

"Okay, so we know what the fiends are doing... the question now is... why?"

"Rikku, you've gotten smarter in the past year!" Gippal laughed, teasing the Al Bhed girl.

With a sound of annoyance, Rikku stomped up to Gippal and glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Gippal grinned. "I was just kidding." He affectionately ruffled her hair with an air of casualty, as though he was used to doing that to her. Rikku responded with a startled "Hey!" as she stepped back a step or two.

Teyha, wanting to disrupt their cute interaction, cleared her throat intentionally. "Perhaps something has disturbed them..."

"Like what?" Rikku asked, vibrant green-swirled eyes focused on the Black Mage. She was fixing her hair after Gippal's unexpected assault on those intricate braids.

"Like... a disturbance in Spira itself. Maybe the fiends sense something we can't, and so they're confused and are straying from their homes."

Gippal nodded in agreement, his right hand rubbing his chin as he considered Teyha's answer. "That's pretty likely. And since the fiends are scattered, Spira's a lot more dangerous."

"Yeah... but I can take care of myself!" Rikku grinned and, pivoting on her feet, turned to find her bag, which had fallen carelessly onto the ground nearby. She swept it up into her hands and slung it over her shoulder before returning to the group.

Gippal frowned at Rikku. "I don't think it's safe for you to travel alone..."

Rikku smiled. "Don't worry! I have Aure coming with me! Right, Aure?" She turned to the crimson-haired girl in question.

Aure smiled. "Yeah. I guess."

"Still," Gippal responded, refusing to let it drop. "I think you'd be safer if I went along, too. Where are you headed to?"

"Safer? With you?" Rikku eyed Gippal. "Are you saying you want to be my bodyguard?"

Gippal blinked at her, then smirked. "No... I just know that you'll need me."

"We're going to Bevelle," Aure said, answering Gippal's question.

"Great!" Gippal grinned again. "I'm headed there too... and so is Teyha." Gippal looked at Rikku again.

Rikku, however, remained as stubborn as ever. "Aure and I are still going by ourselves. I want to do this, Gippal. I want to do something on my own for once. Don't you get it?"

Gippal shifted his weight from leg to leg before answering. "... Yeah, but Rikku..." His thoughts went to when Rikku had been attacked earlier, and he banished the memory from his head, unwanted. "I'm worried for you."

Rikku blinked as she silently tried comprehending his meaning behind those words. Involuntarily, her cheeks reddened into a soft blush and she looked away. "I—I'll be fine, Gippal. What happened earlier was nothing. From now on, I'll be prepared. Dnicd sa, Gippal." Trust me, Gippal.

Uneasy, Gippal pondered on it for another moment. With a sigh, he crossed his well-built arms over his chest, refusing to admit defeat. "Hu, Rikku. E's cdemm lusehk fedr oui." No, Rikku. I'm still coming with you.

Surprised, Rikku looked up at Gippal. "But—"

"But nothing," Gippal interrupted. "I'm going with you and that's final."

Rikku remained speechless, her cheeks still tinted a rosy color. Aure smiled.

"That's fine with me, Rikku. He can come along."

Teyha, mentally disliking the idea, faked a smile before speaking, too. "Yes, I have no problem with it, either." Liar, she thought. Liar, liar, liar. "Besides, I'd like to get to know Rikku better."

"Hell yeah," Gippal grinned again. "This is gonna be a wild adventure."

Sighing, Rikku looked down at her feet. If he comes along... if he's with me every minute from here until Bevelle...

She looked up again, and finally, she smiled too. "Okay, then. Let's go!"

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In Bevelle, at the Ribbon Company Headquarters, the Boss tapped the ashes from his cigar into an ornate crystal ashtray resting on his desk. Raising the cigar back to his lips and taking a puff or two, he turned in his comfy rolling chair and faced the window that occupied the south wall of his roomy office.

He gazed out at the city below. The Headquarters had been built near the temple, slightly on the outskirts of Bevelle, as if the building had been simply added on to the city. But this addition didn't bother the inhabitants too much, so everything was fine. Besides being almost 30 stories high and somewhat ominous in its height, it only seemed to make the city more grander with its construction.

The Boss, his round and plump body slumped in the leather cushions of the chair, puffed on his cigar in silence as he surveyed the town below him. It was getting into late afternoon, and yet the town was still bustling about with people.

Recently, after the mentioning of "the problem," the Boss had sent one of his trustiest advisors down to the Processing Wing to check what went wrong with the ribbons and figure out a solution before reporting back to him. Despite having told that pathetic, poor man earlier that he had not wished to know of the problem, he couldn't shrug it off. And now, his advisor had just departed from his office after reporting the problem and analyzing it. He had merely grunted occasionally as his advisor spoke, and once a solution was proposed, the Boss had sent him off with a "Fine, now leave."

And here he was, contemplating over the last events. It would be another week and a half before the competition started. Participants had already begun gathering at Bevelle, anticipating the challenges and adventure that was yet to come.

The Boss smirked. Yes, everything would be fine. The last of the ribbons would be distributed from the Refining Wing by the middle of next week, and the competition would be all set to go. The ribbons had to be digitally transported all across Spira, in the most random places. They were to be hidden in things, in nature, in towns, everywhere. With the digital transportation, the ribbons could be placed in anything without leaving a hint of where they were buried. It would be up to the competition participants to find them, dig them up, and collect as many as possible within half a year. Of course, challenges would be purposefully placed to hinder the participants. It wouldn't be that easy.

But the Boss also had something else in mind. Something that he could only keep to himself, something that only he knew. He would wait. He had to wait.

Puffing on the cigar one last time, the Boss pressed the dull, glowing end into the crystal ashtray, extinguishing its light and watching as gray wisps of smoke curled skyward into nothing. He turned back to the window.

"Soon, Deorc. Soon."

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A/N : This was a fairly interesting chapter. :3 Deorc is the Old English form of dark, I think. So yeah... keep that in mind. ;D Please review!