Disclaimer: I hope you've figured out by now that I do not own Final Fantasy X-2 and Square-Enix does.

Reminder: Just a reminder, Rikku is in Gippal's body so it's Rikku's mind in Gippal's body and vice versa.

Also 'this' means thinking. Okay? On with the story!

Change!

Chapter Six: Luck, Be In Luca Tonight!

The sound of peaceful snoring drifted through the door of Gippal's workroom above the entrance chamber to Djose Temple. Rikku had fallen asleep at the workbench, extreme boredom driving her to this position. After returning from the Moonflow (and pinky promising Gippal about a gazillion times to, quote, "stay at Djose like a good little girl and not leave no matter what!") she took the elevator to the top floor of the temple and sank into the chair at the bench, occasionally tinkering with a few of the gadgets left there. This tinkering however did not last long, ergo the snoring.

Rikku's eyelids twitched as she felt a gentle nibbling on her fingers. Sleepily she opened her eyes only to find she was staring into a pair of black ones.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed, falling backwards off the chair onto the floor and landing in an awkward position. What was that? "W-who's there?" she asked, slowly raising her eyes to the level of the table.

"Faa?" came the reply.

Rikku sighed in relief, picking up the chair and sitting on it once again. It was only Jimmy, the baby flan from the Moonflow. That flan had grown on her, in all its squishy-faced glory. She couldn't leave it behind so she snuck it into the temple.

"Hey Jimmy, how you feeling?"

"Faa, faaaa!"

"Shh, not so loud!" Rikku covered Jimmy's mouth with her finger. Looking around the room she whispered, "I'm not supposed to have you here."

"…Faa…" Jimmy imitated her whisper.

"That's better."

Knock. Knock.

Uh, oh. Had someone heard Jimmy?

"Oi! Gippal, you ready?"

Rikku looked up and saw that two familiar looking Al Bhed mechanics were at her door. Hey, weren't they Eigaar and Blappa from the Al Bhed Psyches? Must've retired or something.

She blinked. "R-ready?"

"Yeah, for the machina competition in Luca," Blappa replied.

Not that again. When would they get off her case? Was she supposed to study24/7 or something? Sighing she replied, "Yeah, I'm ready."

They stared at her. "Uh, aren't you coming?"

"Where?"

"The machina competition. It starts in a few hours."

"I-it's today?" Rikku squeaked, falling out of her chair for a second time.

"Yeah, right now. Let's go."

Rikku hesitated. Gippal had told her not to leave, hadn't he? She should listen. He had taken that pinky promise a little too seriously. But this Machina Competition was his one big chance to become a Machina Master… or something like that. So what's a non-Gippal stuck in a Gippal body to do?

"See you later Jimmy," she said, sighing wistfully and following Eigaar and Blappa out of the room.

Rikku sat at the back of the hover frantically flipping through the pages of "Repairing for Dummies: The 10 Steps You Need To Follow To Be A Pro" as they sped towards Luca. Sure she could dismantle machina in no time flat but repairing them was a different story. Luckily Eigaar and Blappa were so concentrated on watching the road that they didn't notice their "fearless leader" glancing at such a novice book.

"Almost there," Eigaar (at least Rikku thought it was Eigaar) sang, looking back at Rikku.

She snapped the book shut, tossing it off to the side of the road and smiled. "Great."

Gippal scowled as he kicked a small stone along the Mi'hen Highroad. He had been trying for hours to find a clue to Rikku's whereabouts but no one seemed to know anything and the Al Bhed scattered along its length certainly weren't helping him. He had never been chased by a broom and the words "Yfyo fedr oui raydrah! (Away with you heathen!)" so often in his life. It probably had something to do with the whole disgracing 'Gippal' thing. Word sure travels fast in Spira. Where could Rikku have gone? Why didn't she listen to him?

"Hey, you have the tickets, don't you?"

Gippal jumped, clearly startled, at the sound of the voice. Two Youth League members were coming down the Highroad. He looked side-to-side before leaping to hide behind a rock. Even if they weren't Al Bhed it was better to be safe than sorry. He didn't need a repeat of that episode at the travel agency.

"Jeez man, 'course I do." He puffed out his chest. "I never forget!"

"Remember last year?" his companion asked with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah." He grinned sheepishly. "Well, they're right here." He flashed a pair of tickets to his friend.

"That's a relief. …Who do you think is gonna win? I heard Gippal is competing."

Gippal's ears perked up at the mention of his name.

"Gippal? Man, he's washed up."

'W-washed up? Wait, Gippal? …Rikku!'

"Really? I thought he might win."

"Come on man, the team from Bikanel'll win easy."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Gippal leapt out from behind the rock, blocking the Crusaders path. They stared in awe. What was this 'girl' doing? Their eyes widened slightly as the noticed the dual daggers at 'her' side, glinting dangerously in the sun.

"Where are you two going?"

"L-luca. To the machina competition."

'The machina competition? Dammit Rikku.'

"And Gippal's going to be there?" he asked, sounding a lot more threatening than he intended.

"Y-yes."

With that, Gippal turned around and high-tailed it down the Highroad towards Luca.

The Crusaders shook their heads in disbelief. That girl was crazy.

"Hey! My tickets are gone!"

Rikku, Eigaar, and Blappa stood near the docks of Luca's seaport. Eigaar and Blappa constantly reminded her of their tireless training the past year and suggested they rest up before they were called to the opening ceremony. Rikku didn't object to the rest idea; her brain was about to explode. Too much thinking about what Gippal was going to do if he found out she was here may have caused her to go a little loopy.

"Hey guys, we need to come up with a really cool team name!" Rikku spoke up, smiling widely. Coming up with a team name was a sure-fire way to boost team spirit and give her the confidence she needed to win this thing.

"Team name?" Blappa asked, raising his eyebrows skeptically. "Sounds lame to me."

Rikku shot him the Ultra-Super-Death-Glare-From-the-Farplane, patent pending, she usually reserved for when she was on the receiving end of one of Gippal's childish pranks. "Lame? I'm the captain here and I'll decide what's lame, thank you very much." She paused before grinning dangerously. "Now, give me a name!"

Blappa paled. Rikku smiled to herself. She could be intimidating when she wanted to. "Al Bhed-der Than You?" he managed spit out.

"Not bad. Eigaar?"

"What about Machina Maw-lers?" he said after a moments thought.

Rikku put her fingers on her chin, slowly going over the names in her head. "I've got it! We'll be the Djose Destroyers!" she exclaimed, jumping up into the air and finishing with a peace sign.

Blappa and Eigaar kept their mouths closed and nodded slightly disturbed at what Gippal had just done. No doubt they could use it as blackmail later.

"Attention," a voice crackled over the loud speakers. "Would all participants in today's machina competition please report to the central square? I repeat, would all participants in the machina competition please report to the central square? Thank you."

"That's us. Come on guys," Rikku said as she bounded down the street, Eigaar and Blappa following apprehensively behind her.

"Famlusa, ajanouha (Welcome, everyone)," Rin said, standing on a bridge above the gathering crowd in the square. "I am looking forward to a fair competition. The rules are as follows. Each team of three will have one minute to repair the damaged machina presented to them. The first team to finish will move on to the next round. May the best team win! Now, to announce the teams!"

The large screen set up in the square flashed to a live shot of the crowd. As each team emerged from underneath the bridge their image was displayed on the screen.

"All the way from the desert sands, Team Bikanel!"

The Bikanel Al Bhed smiled and waved to the cheering crowd before stepping aside for the next team.

"From the sparkling woods, Team Macalania!"

"Arriving on shoopuf, Team Moonflow!"

"From the city that never sleeps, Team Luca!"

The volume of the crowd's cheering had noticeably increased after the Luca team had been announced.

"We're next guys," Rikku whispered to her team as they waited for Rin to announce them. "Now remember to do it just like we practiced."

"From the lighting temple, Team Djose, I mean the, uh, Djose Destroyers!"

Rikku, Eigaar, and Blappa came out from underneath the bridge, each striking a pose similar to those of the Gullwings. Rikku shot Rin an exaggerated wink much to the amusement of the crowd. Eigaar and Blappa made to stand next to the other teams but Rikku pulled them away by the arms.

"Come on guys; let's get ready for our match."

"But there's still one team left!" Blappa protested.

"Forget them, come on."

"Excuse me. Pardon me," Gippal said as he attempted to make his way though the crowded streets of Luca. How could he have forgotten the machina competition was today? He had had the date circled (in red ink!) on his calendar for the past year and a half! And how could Rikku enter as him? She could have at least pretended to be sick and spare Gippal his dignity. Well, there was always next year… Aw, who was he kidding? This was his year to win! But now that Rikku was in control of his body he'd be lucky if he managed to pass the first round without her humiliating him. He would become the laughingstock of the Machina Society. He had to find Rikku and stop her… and fast.

"From the lighting temple, Team Djose, I mean the, uh, Djose Destroyers!"

Gippal's ears perked up. That was Rin's voice. The opening ceremony! He struggled harder than ever to move through the throngs of people. Only a few more steps and he would reach the square. The crowd was denser here and his height certainly didn't help him. Just as he was about to give up, he caught a glimpse of his own spiked locks moving towards the Blitz Stadium… on the other side of the crowd!

Gippal sighed in defeat. Rikku was in the competition, posing as him no less. There was no way he could win, in any sense. He had managed to track down the Djose locker room but was chased away at the door by Al Bhed security guards who kept shouting, "Pmycbraso! (Blasphemy!)"

He had no choice but to take his seat and hope Rikku would let him keep his dignity. Glancing down at the one of the tickets he swiped earlier he saw that he was in seat 5-E, section A.

"Wow prime real estate. Those guys must have gone all out to get these baby's. Must've been through a radio show or something." An image popped into his head of the two men in prancing around in chocobo outfits and pink tutus. Spiran radio stations weren't particularly kind to those who wanted to enjoy themselves. "… Here we are 5-E."

Just as Gippal was settling into his seat, he heard a very familiar voice calling his current name.

"Rikku!"

He turned his head and his jaw dropped open. Yuna and Paine stood there, looking equally as surprised to see "Rikku."

"H-hey Yuna, Paine," Gippal sputtered nervously through a mouthful of popcorn.

"I thought you weren't coming. You changed your mind?" Yuna asked.

At the confusion on Gippal's face Paine spoke up, "Just last week you said you wanted to spare yourself the embarrassment of seeing Gippal make a fool of himself."

'She said what?' Gippal thoughtthough he forced a smile. "Oh ho ho, I'm such a joker! Gippal would never make a fool of himself!"

Yuna and Paine, seemingly satisfied or possibly disturbed with this answer, waved goodbye before leaving to take their seats.

"I hope," Gippal muttered under his breath as he snatched another handful of popcorn.

"It's time for the second match of the first round to get underway. Here are Team Luca and the Djose Destroyers!"

Rikku and her teammates emerged from the right tunnel and Team Luca from the one on the left.

"While the teams are getting set up, I'll remind you today's competition is brought to you by our sponsor, Spiran Express, don't leave home without it! Alright, it looks like the teams are ready."

Two badly damaged machina, each spewing sparks, had been rolled out onto the field, one in front of each team.

"Teams take your marks."

The members of the Luca and Djose teams loomed over the machine, the sparks narrowly missing their faces.

"Get set. Go!"

At the sound of 'go' the teams were off, hurriedly trying to repair their machina. Rikku hesitated, not sure where to begin. Eigaar and Blappa looked at her, waiting for her command.

'Great. I have no idea what to do,' she thought trying to look like she was coming up with a great plan but failing miserably.

"Luca seems to be off to a great start. The Destroyers, however, look hesitant."

"What should we do, Gippal?" Eigaar asked, watching the Luca team out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh…" Rikku trailed off, all ten minutes of quick study leaking out of her brain. What should they do? They couldn't lose the first round! "I've got an idea. Why don't you guys start us off? It'll be like a test, yeah, a test of your machina repairing skills!"

"A test? Now?"

"Yes, now go!"

"It looks like Djose is finally making a move on their machina. Team captain Gippal seems to be unsure of how to proceed and has instructed his teammates to take the lead."

Rikku groaned inwardly. That was a close one. Could she really keep this up for the whole competition? She watched in awe as Eigaar and Blappa moved at lightning speed, removing and readjusting parts of the machina she hadn't even known existed. Maybe there was something to this machina repairing business she should give Gippal credit for.

"Oh no!"

Rikku straightened up and saw what had caught the announcer's attention. Great jets of steam billowed out from Luca's machine. They danced around it, trying to wave the steam away with paper fans… which didn't quite work out as the fans caught on fire.

"Team Luca's machina has overheated! If Djose can successfully fix their machine, they win."

Rikku tore her gaze away from the frantic Luca team. Eigaar and Blappa were completely focused on their machina as they made the last few adjustments before switching it on. She crossed her fingers as Blappa flipped the switch. This was it. Would they be treated to a round of applause or a burst of fire?

"Blip. Blip. Blip," the machina came to life with a series of blips and beeps.

"The Djose Destroyers have done it! They're moving on to the next round!"

Rikku nearly fainted in relief.

The first round had ended just moments before Gippal made his move. He squeezed out of his seat, after being blocked in by an extremely large man for the entire match, and into the aisle. Winding his way through the intermission crowds he once again made his way to the Djose locker room and found it miraculously unguarded. He pushed the door open, cautiously poking his head inside.

A lone figure stood in the middle of the room. It was Rikku and at the sound of the door opening she turned around and smiled.

"Hey Rikku, I mean, Gippal. Jeez, now even I'm getting confused." She laughed, grinning broadly. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I told you not to leave the temple!"

Rikku continued smiling despite Gippal's harsh tone. "Yeah but-"

"But what? You wanted to embarrass me?"

Rikku's smile faltered but she managed to replace it with another. "No, I-"

"Look, just forfeit the next rounds. It's best for both of us."

The smile completely left Rikku's face and was replaced by a look of polite confusion. "But we won the first round."

"No thanks to you," he mumbled.

"I know how much this means to you, Gippal. …I only wanted to help."

"Then 'help' by taking yourself out of the competition." Gippal snapped as he turned to exit the room, dimly aware he may have come across as a little insensitive. "See ya."

"Wait Gippal!" Rikku shouted after him. Stomping her foot she added, "You big jerk! Can't you see how much I care about you?"

Gippal stopped cold in his tracks. 'She must be joking. Why would she say something like that?' Nevertheless he spun around to face Rikku, expecting her to point and laugh, saying 'Made you look!' or some other juvenile remark. But he didn't get what he expected. Tears were welled up in her eyes but her face was perfectly composed.

"I did this for you Gippal," she continued softly, the tears now overflowing and slowly making their way down her face. "I know I can't repair machina half as well as you, but I was willing to try."

Gippal was stunned. Rikku had done this for him. No one, girl or not, had done anything like this for him, thinking only of what he wanted. It gave him an unusualsort of feeling, like a balloon beingblown up inside of him. A nice feeling.And somehow, Gippal knew that Rikku truly meant what she said.

"Thanks," he whispered, encircling Rikku in a tight hug. He held her at arms length, looking at her tear-streaked face beforecracking a gentle smile. "You'd better get ready for the second round."

The Djose Destroyers, under the leadership of a newly determined Rikku,managed to battle past the second round of the machina competition and into the finals. However there they fell short and lost to the mysterious masked Al Bhed of the Highroad Team who, once they removed their masks, turned out to be none other than Shinra, Buddy, and Brother.

"I can't believe I lost to that shrimp again," Rikku sighed as she watched Rin hand them the trophy. Not only was the twerp a pro at Sphere Break, he could repair machina with the best of them, too.

Gippal grinned. "Hey, at least I got the machina part we needed. All we have to do now is get back to Djose and we'll be back to our own bodies in no time."

"Alright!" Rikku exclaimed, her sulky mood quickly evaporating. She jumped, punching her fist into the air, initiating one of those freeze frame moments that were commonly found at the end of Saturday morning anime. "Onward, to Djose!"

Author's Notes: Sixth chapter finally done. Took long enough, didn't it? I hope people haven't forgotten about this story... I'm such a procrastinator. Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers and readers! This story wouldn't have made it this far without you.

Next Chapter: Will Rikku and Gippal finally get back to their own bodies? Or will something ominous prevent this wonderful event? Stay tuned.

Extra: Jimmy's name comes from the ending song "Hey Jimmy" from the anime Peacemaker Kurogane. (You may have known that from some of the things Rikku says to Jimmy :)