Lie In The Sound
Chapter 6: Incomplete


I didn't understand anything that happened after I heard the baby cry for the first time. I didn't even remember if that was real, or just a dream, if it was memory or illusion. Time was non-existent, I was numb to all feeling, I heard nothing, I saw nothing... if I could have made sense of it, I would have assumed that I was dead.

For a long time, or so it seemed, I remained in that condition, suspended between reality and dream, life and death. There were times when I wasn't even aware of being, when I was nothing, missing from my own fogged mind. There were times when I heard everything around me, though I could see nothing and I could not comprehend what I heard. But before too long passed, I started to dream. I started to remember.


I woke slowly, smiling as I became conscious of his warm body lying next to my own. That night had been our own, one to remember. We'd made a choice, not knowing that the choice would change our lives forever. The weak moonlight streamed through the small window, casting an alien glow throughout the room. Gippal was smiling at me as I opened my eyes and pushed myself closer to him, no longer embarrassed to feel his skin against mine.

"Morning…" His eyes were glued to mine as I ran a hand along his back, smiling lazily at him.

"It's still dark, why are you awake?"

He smiled and shrugged. "I couldn't sleep." He playfully tweaked my nose. "And why are you awake?"

"Didn't want to sleep anymore." I pulled him to me tightly, my lips meeting his in a slow but passionate kiss.

"I liked watching you sleep, Cid's girl…" Gippal grinned at me and buried his face in my neck, breathing in my scent deeply. "I can't stop thinking about last night…" he whispered, sucking lightly at my earlobe. I closed my eyes and rubbed at his back.

"Neither can I." I grinned and nestled my head under his chin. We held each other tightly, and I listened to his racing heart. "Gippal…"

"Yeah?" He took my hand and interlaced his fingers with my own.

"E muja oui…" I whispered, planting a gossamer kiss on his collarbone.

His heart sped for a moment, but then slowed dramatically. He kissed my forehead softly, still so gentle. "E muja oui, duu, Rikku."


Until I'd seen her, I hadn't realized that my heart had been broken since she'd left. I was incomplete without her then… but now, as she was lying in front of me, she was still miles away, and I felt no more complete than I had in our long months of separation.

The morning had passed quickly as Yuna and I had spent time with the baby. Yuna had gone to rest at the Faction house at noon, sending Paine in her wake. Paine had gone to see the baby with me, and gone into Rikku's room with her stone face on. She'd come out with the same expression a little while later. The situation hadn't seemed real all morning, but when I entered the room and saw the tear streaks down Paine's cheeks, reality crashed into place. She'd left the hospital not long after, and I was alone with Rikku once again.

As I watched her, my mind continued to travel back to the nights when I'd woken with her beside me, the nights when I'd been so content just to watch her sleep. The memory was strong; I could see her laying there, her wild hair shining in the moonlight. Sometimes she would shiver from the cold drafts of the old temple; I would pull up the heavy comforter to shield her from the freezing air, and then smile as she unconsciously kicked it off. A few days before she'd gone away, she'd woken in the early morning hours and turned her eyes upon the window, watching the moon as it made its journey across the sky. Something was strange about her calm contemplation, but I didn't think twice about it.

Anger filled me suddenly, without warning, and I glared at the open window, at the sunlight that should not have been shining. I was angry at myself, for everything. A knock sounded at the door, interrupting our solitude, my reflection. I looked around to see Yuna standing there once more, with a vase of flowers in her hands.

"Is it alright if I come in?" she asked, watching Rikku almost as if she suspected her to sit up at any moment.

I nodded. She placed the flowers on a little table in the corner, uncertainly rearranging them for a few moments. I watched as she fidgeted with them. She seemed to be fixated on the flowers. Ten minutes passed as she stood there, her movements uncertain and pointless.

"You know… you're excellent at making various flower assortments, I'm sure, but you're kind of crushing them with all the rearranging." She glanced at me as if she'd forgotten I was there, and immediately pulled away from the flowers. She stood near the window, looking out over the city.

"I'm sorry, I just… I need to keep my mind off of her. I can't stand seeing her like that."

"Then why the hell are you here?" I asked, my anger overpowering me. She looked at me with a shocked expression on her face. I sighed heavily and placed my head in my hands. "Yuna, I'm sorry, I didn-"

"You didn't think before you spoke?" she asked, the old summoners' detachment sealing off her emotions. Her voice was clipped, and she spoke quietly. "Honestly, Gippal, I didn't think you were one to ask stupid questions."

I stared at her for a moment before looking at the floor. "I'm just an-"

"Angry? At who, Rikku? Me?" Rikku had once told me that when Yuna got mad, she got mad. I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the cousins. I stared at the ground as something inside me broke.

"No… at myself."

Yuna watched me as I stared at the ground, glaring. "For what?"

"For driving her away… for what I said to you."

"Driving her away?"

I looked into her eyes, which widened with shock at the sight of the angry tears that had begun to form in mine. "I'm the reason she left, Yuna. I didn't think, I just started talking, I…"

Yuna glared at me as I spoke. I knew that Rikku hadn't told anyone her reason for leaving Djose. "What did you say to her?"


I flexed my hand as I pushed another stack of forms to the side, my hand cramping from writing for so long. My door opened slowly, and I glanced up to see who it was. Rikku stood there, in her work clothes, which were covered in oil stains, her hair thrown atop her head carelessly. She looked strangely determined as she closed the heavy door behind her.

I smiled up at her and stood, walking out from behind my desk. "Hey, beautiful." She gave me a little half smile. "You on break?"

She nodded and sat down on the little couch in the corner. "Yeah…"

I sat next to her and kissed her cheek warmly. She tensed, but relaxed quickly, leaning her head on my shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Uh… I just wanted to talk." She hugged me tightly. "You're not busy, are you?"

I looked over at the stack of papers that remained on my desk. "A little, but it isn't a big deal. What do you wanna talk about?" I leaned back against the cushions, and she lay her head in my lap, looking up at me nervously.

"Us."

I watched her with confusion. "What about us?"

"Like… the future." She closed her eyes. "Our plans… for the future."

I grinned, rubbing the back of my head with confusion. "What made you think about that?"

"A lot of things." She opened one spiraled eye and looked at me. "We can talk later, if you don't feel like it right now. I just… I had to bring it up sometime." She looked uncomfortable, but I didn't think anything of it. I'd be nervous if I were the one to bring it up, too.

"No, that's okay, it's just… we've never really talked about this before." I played with her hair as we sat there, and she closed her eyes again.

"I know…"

"Well, what are you thinking about?"

She half smiled again. "Settling down. You know, like, getting married, and…" She hesitated before opening her eyes and staring straight up at me. "And starting a family."

I grinned back, shrugging. "We've got plenty of time to think about that kind of thing."

"But I want to think about it now." The determination was back. "Gippal, I… please, just tell me what you think about it."

I looked off at my desk and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'd like us to get married someday, but not yet. We're still young, we have time to think about getting married, you know, take it slow, make it perfect." Her expression faltered a bit, but the determination did not drain.

"And about the family thing?"

"Well, even if we were to get married sometime soon, I don't want kids yet. We're not ready for that, you know? I've got a big responsibility with the Faction. I'm making good money, and this is a really good career. I'd like to feel secure before starting a family, wouldn't you?"

Her eyes closed again, and she nodded. "It would be nice to feel secure… kinda seems hard right now, though." She sat up and sat back against the couch, staring out the window.

"No kidding… I just feel like we both should live a little and grow up before we get ourselves into anything like that." She pulled her legs to her chest and laid her head upon her knees, facing away from me. "Hey… what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just… I was hoping for a different reaction." Her voice was quiet, and the earlier confidence was gone.

"I love you, Rikku, but are you really ready to take such a big step?" I rubbed my hand along her back. She didn't shy away from the touch, but she didn't warm to it, either.

"I don't know if I am or not." She stood up and began to walk to the door. "I should probably get back to work…"

I watched her as she made her way to the door. She opened it, and as she walked out, she swayed on her feet. I watched with concern as she grabbed the doorjamb and leaned her forehead against it, breathing deeply. "Honey, are you okay?" I made my way to her, feeling her forehead. She was clammy, cold… but for some reason, she was sweating.

She nodded. "I've been feeling a little under the weather the last few weeks." She looked up at me with a pleading in her eyes. I didn't catch it.

"Maybe you should take the rest of the night off… I don't want you getting everyone else sick."

Rikku nodded and looked at the ground. She walked away from me, steady on her feet once more. I didn't hear her as she whispered, "If only it were contagious…"


"She was trying so hard to tell me… I never realized it until you told me about all this, yesterday morning. She stayed for another week, but she was distant. I didn't even think that our conversation could have been the cause! And then she… she was gone, and I wanted to follow her, but I thought I should give her some space… And she never came back, and she didn't respond to my letters… so I just stopped trying." It was the second time in as many days that I had started to cry in front of Yuna. I wasn't sobbing, but tears were rolling down my cheeks. I held my emotions back, built a wall around them, refusing to release them in front of her.

She looked at me with disgust. "How could you not see it, Gippal? How could you just stop trying? I thought you loved her! Anyone could see that she was head over heels for you!" She was loud. I was loud. Had the door not been closed, our shouting could have been heard all the way down the hall.

"Of course I loved her! I still love her, Yuna… you say that you can't stand seeing her like this? How the hell do you think I feel? I've done nothing but hurt her! I'm the reason she's here, I'm the reason she's been so miserable for months… I'm the reason she's dying!" I was out of control now, and I couldn't help but choke on my tears.

Yuna screamed at me, sobbing. "She is not dying. Never, ever say that again, do you hear me?"

A nurse threw open the door, glaring at the two of us. "What in the devil is going on in here? If you want to fight, take it somewhere else! This is a sickroom, not a pub!" She walked to Rikku's bed and took her pulse, glaring at the both of us. "Heart rate is up…" She shook her head. "Now, if you two don't stop fighting, I'll have you both thrown out of this ward, family or not. Do not bring anymore tension into this room, do you understand me?"

The two of us stared at the nurse as we wiped our faces. She exited the room angrily, closing the door quietly behind her. I stared at Yuna. She stared back at me. "I can't live without her, Yuna. I… I just…"

Yuna made her way to the door, stopping before she turned the handle. "Uncle Cid will be here in the morning. Do you mind if I go and spend some time with my niece?" She was angry still, I knew.

"That's… that's fine. I'll send a nurse if there's any change."

She nodded and took her leave. I stared after her for a long while, before I turned back to Rikku's still form.

I took her hand tentatively and pressed it to my forehead, resisting the tears. "I love you, Rikku, so much… I need you to wake up for me. The baby needs you, Yuna needs you… please, don't leave me alone again…" I kissed her hand and watched her, holding her palm to my cheek. A single teardrop fell from my eyelash and onto her palm, and then rolled away without resistance.


I had to make up for that horribly short chapter from yesterday, so I updated again today. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. This is the kind of chapter that I hope to churn out next time, as well, so… even though it isn't insanely long, there's a lot of emotion in it. It still might not make sense to you about why Rikku left. If not… all will be explained in time. Thanks so much for reading!

Just to answer a frequent question… the baby will end up having green, swirled eyes at some point in time. However, it is common that when babies are born, their eyes are blue. It takes time for their eyes to change to the permanent color. Therefore, they are blue now, but yes. Both her parents and their parents had swirly green eyes… she'll have them as well.

Please Review!