Chapter 8
Gippal woke up first the next day, his arms wrapped around Rikku. He watched her sleep for a while. He wished, now, that he'd spent more time with her. Since Vegnagun, he'd barely seen her, both of them so wrapped up in their own lives. He noticed that she had a frown line forming on her forehead, and it saddened him that the sweet bubbly girl he remembered had frowned so much in her few years. He kissed her forehead and she smiled, the frown line disappearing and being replaced by laughter lines around her eyes.
However, when she opened those swirling green eyes a few seconds later her first sentence was "What time is it?"
He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Just gone noon" he replied, surprised to see how long they'd slept.
"69 hours, 45 minutes," she muttered. He didn't ask her to explain. She got up and began dressing and gathering her things together.
"Which shelter are you in?" He asked her.
"Besaid,"
"Besaid! Rikku…can't you switch to the Calm lands?"
She looked over at him. "No I can't, Gippal. I'm sorry," she smiled at him. "Why don't you switch to Besaid?"
"I can't Rikku. The Calm Lands Shelter is the strongest in Spira! As the leader of the Machine Faction I have to be there,"
She smiled again, a gentle smile completely different from her normal happy look. It was a resigned smile. Gippal hated it. He never wanted to see that expression on her face.
"I'll see you on the other side," she said. Then she left, silently.