Dancing All Around Me

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A/N : Yeah, I'm back! Haha, I know, it's been a very long time since I last updated, but the good news is that I'm not dead! And since I just got a review—I didn't realize that people went back that far to read those 'fics covered in dust and cobwebs—I figured, hey, this thing got started, why not continue it? I'm not sure how many of my fans are still interested in my story, but I guess I'll still keep it going for those of you that have stuck by me for this long as well as for any new readers that'll hopefully be coming along. A big thank-you to Tierce, for reading and writing a review just recently; I've come to realize that I miss writing this story and that it's not fair to those of you still wanting to read it. I had to re-read my entire 'fic up 'til now, just to refresh my memory (sad, I know). Hopefully, I'll still be able to write as well as I did before! Enjoy and please review so my inspiration doesn't die almost before it's been born, lol.

Disclaimer : I do not claim ownership of any Final Fantasy X-2 characters, concepts, trademarks, etc.; they are the property of Square-Enix. However, any original characters (including Aure, Teyha, Deorc, the Boss, Desta, etc.) in this work belong to me.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN : Feelings Exposed, Suspicions Revived

The ride across Moonflow on the shoopuf was one of peaceful contentment. Each of the four party members was situated in his or her own respective position in the large, open-air seating basket. Aure was in one of the four corners of the rectangular enclosure, her arms presumably crossed over her chest and hidden underneath her brown cloak, one leg crossed over the other. The Black Mage Teyha was on the same bench, though on the opposite end, seated in a somewhat tense manner, her fragile-looking hands resting in her lap. Rikku was sitting in the middle of one of the longer benches, her gaze slightly downcast as her expression told that she was thinking about something in depth. Gippal was in one of the other corners not occupied by Aure, his arms propped on the edges of the two basket sides that joined to form the corner he now sat in. All four patrons of the shoopuf sat in thick, motionless silence; only the Hypello that supervised the vessel moved around, making sure that everything was fine.

The Machine Faction leader irresistibly turned his gaze to the blond Al Bhed girl seated not too far from him. A rather affectionate smile crept to the corners of his lips as he idly watched her. As the breeze ruffled through the girl's hair, Gippal could almost feel the silky threads slipping through his fingers, could distinctively remember how soft and wonderful she felt to his touch back when they were dating. He mentally sighed, admitting that he really did miss her and that he was glad to be spending time with her again. When he was at Djose, in the back of his mind, he was afraid that he would never see this spunky Al Bhed girl again, something that always numbed his thoughts every night when he would lay down to sleep.

Realizing that someone's unrelenting gaze was upon her, Rikku suddenly snapped from her daydream and lifted her eyes to only be met with those of Gippal, the one who had evidently been eyeing her for the majority of the ride. Slightly surprised, she smiled at him. Oh, how happy she was to be allowed to see him again… since they had broken up, she had oftentimes found herself missing him more than he would ever come to know. And now, they were together again, though on terms not as intimate as back then. When he smiled in return, a burst of warmth fluttered from her heart into the rest of her body, a pleasant feeling as when a high school girl finds herself under the admiring gaze of a longtime crush.

Breaking her gaze from Gippal's (she almost couldn't stand the overwhelming emotions she was feeling), Rikku turned to the iridescent waters that comprised the immense lake at Moonflow. She kept her eyes riveted to the shimmering, restless waters for the remaining ride, not wanting to turn back and meet Gippal's gaze.

Unbeknownst to the couple that had affectionately eyed each other just moments ago, the young Black Mage had silently (and bitterly, might I add) watched the visual engagement. Her hands, which were once calmly resting in her lap, had subconsciously clenched into white-knuckled fists. Teyha, needless to say, was drowning in uncontrollable jealousy. She had tried her best to restrain herself from showing her envy, and she had done well up until recently, when she had stormed in Gippal's face earlier that morning. To her, it was hard to see that Gippal had no special female companion, as he had stated when they first met; here he was, acting like he and this… this despicable bitch (in the words of Teyha… or thoughts, rather) were lovebirds entwined in each other's hearts.

In anyone else's eyes, this would've been something to "Aww…" over—it drove Teyha, on the other hand, to the point of utter disgust. If it hadn't been for Gippal's eyeing Rikku the entire time, she would've long since disposed of the Al Bhed girl, even if it meant taking her life away. Nothing, she thought, nothing will stand in my way of having Gippal for myself. Not even this slutty whore of a scumbag. At this point, she was glaring daggers at the blond girl, who was so preoccupied in thoughts of her own that she failed to notice, as was Gippal.

The cool-headed Aure, however, did see. Though we couldn't say that she was intently observing Teyha the entire time, the crimson-haired figurine was aware enough of the circumstances to note the increasing negativity. When they had first met, Aure had had some sort of underlying suspicion about the Black Mage, but she had overlooked it as nonsense. Now, she realized, she had been right to get that sort of impression about this raven-haired, purple-clad femme, who was simply desperate to get a man of her own. At least, that was how this crimson-haired warrior saw it. In her eyes, it was merely ridiculous. Though she was not one to deeply involve herself in intimate matters, Aure was relieved that she had had the fortune not to be pulled into the triangle.

It wasn't long before the shoopuf arrived at the other end of the Moonflow lake, and the Hypello alarmingly announced their arrival in his funny voice. Everyone gradually got off the shoopuf on the elevated platform, and once all four party members were on solid ground and a good distance away from the shoopuf docking area, Rikku turned to her friends and grinned.

"So what now?"

Aure placidly eyed the bouncy blond girl, resting a fingerlessly-gloved hand on the hilt of her sword. "Now we continue. We don't have much time, and we still have quite a long way to go."

Gippal nodded, stepping forward. "Yeah, Aure's right. But still, we should probably stop and get ourselves something to eat. I'm a little starved, if I do say so myself."

Agreeing, Rikku said, "Okay! I've got some bread that we could eat…" She began rummaging through her knapsack, triumphantly pulling out two lofty loaves of bread, preserved in their freshness. The party failed to complain as they divulged in what the little thief had to offer; after all, it was the only food at hand, and everyone was pretty much hungry from all the traveling they had done up to this point.

Once they were done, the party continued forward, towards the close town of Guadosalam.

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The road to Guadosalam was rather lengthy, but it didn't take our four travelers long to cross it. On the way, the spike-headed Machine Faction leader noticed how silent Teyha had been for a while. As the four party members trudged on, he made his way to the Black Mage's side, prodding her gently with his elbow to get her attention.

"Hey."

The Black Mage didn't spare him a glance; she kept her gaze fixed forward on the road ahead of them. "Hey," she said in a monotonous voice lacking any sort of emotion. Gippal blinked at her in surprise, noticing the difference in her voice from when they had first met, when her voice was like a song to his ears.

"What's wrong?"

They continued walking in silence, and it took a while before Teyha responded, and when she did, she turned and glared at Gippal, which in turn startled him.

"You. That's what's wrong."

"Me?" Gippal exclaimed incredulously. Aure and Rikku looked over at him, curious as to what caused his sudden outburst. Gippal didn't feel the need to question any further, appalled as he was by the Black Mage's answer. He then shuffled over to Aure, distancing himself away from Teyha as they walked.

The crimson-haired warrior smirked, knowing fully well what was going on. She kept her violet-imbued eyes locked on the road as she spoke.

"You've gotten yourself into quite a predicament, Gippal."

The man in reference looked at Aure grimly. "It's not like I wanted it to be this way…"

"I'm sure you didn't. But it happened, and now you have to deal with it. You're going to have to make a decision, and you can't keep both."

Gippal lowered his gaze to the dirt path. Can't keep both, huh?

Aure looked at Gippal. "You do realize that, right? They're both going to be waiting for an answer. Two different answers."

He had never considered that he would have to choose one of them. In truth, he really did still harbor strong feelings for the blond Al Bhed girl, but then, he was also interested in the sweet-natured, innocent Black Mage. After all, he tended to be a "ladies' man" of sorts, and settling with one person was something he had never given a serious thought to. Turning back to the warrior, he grinned. "You're a lot wiser than you look, you know."

At this, Aure managed a small laugh. "No, I just know how to pay attention to all the small details."

Gippal smiled at the warrior, finding it hard to believe that someone younger than himself—Rikku's age, presumably—could be so detail-oriented and, in his eyes, wise beyond appearance. Glancing back behind him, he saw Rikku walking alongside Teyha, who was apparently disliking the bouncy thief and barely responding to the girl's questions with her forced smiles. He sighed lightly, hoping that he wouldn't have to make his decision anytime soon.

As the party continued walking on, they were almost at the cave-like entrance into Guadosalam when a sudden screech pierced the air. The four travelers stopped, covering their ears from the sharp cry. From seemingly nowhere, a bony, monstrous creature materialized before the group amidst purple-tinged smoke. Two great horns protruded from an elongated skull baring razor-like teeth and hollow eyesockets; the skull was then attached to an oblong torso, the worn ribcage exposed. Long, stick-like arms with equally bony claws hung down from its sides. The creature levitated in the air by the purplish haze from whence it appeared. Letting out another ear-shattering cry, it prepared itself to attack.

Gippal stepped forward, eyes widened. "A Great Haunt? Here?"

Aure firmly grasped the hilt of her sword and brought out the blade with a resounding ring. "Great Haunts are only found in Bikanel. Apparently, we were right with our theory—the fiends are moving."

"This can't be good!" The Al Bhed thief whipped out her circular-hilt blades, positioning herself in her battle stance. "I guess all we can do is fight this thing!"

Likewise, the Black Mage Teyha braced herself, lifting her staff to her chest. Gippal, still weaponless, could only stand by, cursing himself for not bringing along his machina gun.

The Great Haunt shrieked again before lunging forth, one huge claw extended, towards the crimson-haired warrior. Aure responded swiftly, moving her body so as to dodge the assault, simultaneously surging power through her sword to send a devastating Magic Break into the fiend's side. The Great Haunt let out a screechy cry, hovering itself to a better position and facing the group, which had now scattered around the fiend.

The creature bowed its skull and raised its bony arms as dark purple clouds and stars formulated around it, indicating that it was preparing to use a spell. Teyha found this moment as her opportunity, and she summoned forth her own spell, managing to beat the fiend to it. She raised her staff, casting a Waterga as waves came crashing into the wraith-like monster. This attack, however, had little effect on the creature, for almost as soon as it had been hit, it recovered, resuming its preparation to cast a spell.

"Watch out, it's about to attack!" Aure lifted her sword, bracing herself. Likewise, Teyha and Rikku did the same. Gippal stood somewhat towards the rear, feeling completely and utterly helpless.

The wraith let out a screech again, raising its arms and jerking them down, sending a grey wave brimming with negative magic towards the Machine Faction leader. Gippal raised his arms, hoping that doing so would somehow lessen the damage. He was surprised, however, when a figure clad in a light purple robe stepped defiantly in front of him, fully taking the attack. When he realized who it was, his eyes widened and he made an effort to get her out of his way, but it was already too late; the wave hit her straight on, sending her flying backwards.

Gippal watched in horror before running to the fallen Black Mage's side. Meanwhile, Rikku attacked the creature with her dagger-weapons, quickly evading the wraith's swiping assaults. Aure, standing a little further off, pushed more power into her blade, charging at the fiend before slashing a giant diagonal arc across its form. The Great Haunt released a piercing death cry before slumping down to the dirt path, the purplish haze disappearing as the corpse burst into pyreflies.

The blond Al Bhed thief bounced on her feet slightly, twirling her blades in triumph. "Yes! We did it!" Almost immediately, she stopped and, tucking her weapons away, walked over to where Gippal tended to the injured Teyha. Aure sheathed her sword and slowly trekked to the rest of the group.

Gippal gently lifted Teyha's upper body from the ground, a look of guilt mixed with worry in his expression. "Why," he whispered, "did you do that?"

The Black Mage smiled weakly up at him. "Because…" Her voice was fragile-sounding, on the verge of cracking. "Because… you mean so much to me, Gippal. I've come to see you as… more… than a friend… and I don't want to see you hurt…"

Closing his eyes, Gippal sighed and gently lifted her into an embrace, much like how he had done with Rikku earlier on. The blond Al Bhed girl stood to the side, observing the scene with a hint of sadness; somewhere deep inside, she felt a jerking tear, a rip that tore her heart apart.

Gippal tucked one arm behind Teyha's knees and the other arm around her shoulders, lifting her up. He turned to look at Aure and Rikku. "Let's get to Guadosalam as fast as possible. We don't want to run into anymore fiends."

For some odd reason, Rikku felt that the main reason was not to avoid more battles, but to get precious Teyha to the town to recover. She couldn't help but wonder, sadly, if he would have done the same for her in the earlier incident, if she had been injured more seriously. Still, the blond Al Bhed girl was even more disturbed by Teyha's words. More than a friend…? She wondered, too, if he felt the same towards the Black Mage.

Sighing almost inaudibly, Rikku tucked her knapsack over her shoulder and followed Gippal as he carried Teyha. Aure looked from the receding form of Gippal to the following Rikku.

Then the crimson-haired warrior bent down and picked up the Black Mage's fallen staff. Upon touching the weapon, Aure's eyes widened. How…? What the hell…?

Gripping the staff harder, the warrior narrowed her eyes, lifting her gaze to the Black Mage slumped in Gippal's arms. After a moment, she followed them, hating how the staff felt—or the lack of it—in her hand.

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A/N : So how do you guys like this chapter:D? It's a little different, that's for sure. Kinda twisted, yeah, but it's getting interesting. Please review! Thank you!