The remnants of her momentary bliss rooted Kairi to the spot, her whole mind focusing on the tingling sensation still flowing through her body and the warmth enveloping her as she stood, completely comfortable, wrapped in Sora's arms as he held her close. She flinched at the feeling of his breath on her shoulder, tickling her. He grinned and scooped her up, carrying her down the hall. She laughed helplessly, unable to resist (not that she wanted to). At the end of the hall (and at the end of the hallway on every floor), there was a small sitting area and a balcony. Sora carefully walked over to the couch there and sat down, pulling Kairi into his lap. She giggled a little, settling into his arms and resting her head on his shoulder. She found one of her hands tightly grasped with his, and smiled. He rested his head on top of hers, and sighed in contentment.

"I missed you, Kai." he whispered.

"Me too," she replied, adjusting herself a little so she could look up at him. "So, how did you get to Spira?" Sora shrugged, grinning.

"Donald got us lost, and we just kind of ended up here. How did you ever get here?" He asked, finally voicing the question that had been plaguing him since he first saw her again. Kairi sighed.

"I was in the Secret Place, and there was that door, so I decided that I go through it."

"And you just ended up here?"

"No…I found these blocks and was looking at them and Riku found me."

"Riku? What happened?"

"He's…different than he was before. I think he's trapped in…well, whatever that place was. He knows all the ways out, but I don't think he can leave. He showed me a door and told me that I'd find people that would take me to you on the other side." She stopped for a second, wondering whether or not to tell Sora that she'd also been told that she'd never return to the Destiny Islands. Still unsure for herself what it meant, she decided not to tell him until she figured it out for herself. "I fell down some stairs and almost landed on top of Yuna, Rikku and Paine. I guess the rest is history, right?" She asked, raising her eyes to his. Sora smiled.

"It's amazing that we found each other. It was pure luck." He mused. Kairi smiled.

"Destiny." she corrected. Sora grinned in agreement. He traced the curve of her cheek, tilting her head so she faced him and kissed her tenderly.

"We should share a paopu fruit one of these days." He decided. Kairi felt a pang of guilt at not telling him about everything Riku had told her.

"I don't think so." She whispered before she could stop herself.

"Huh? Why not?" Sora asked, sounding confused and a bit worried. Sighing, Kairi told him everything, about how Riku told her she'd never go back to the Islands, and about how all the blocks had their names on them and how it meant that they'd have to sacrifice something very precious to them. Sora hugged her close.

"I promise, I'm not going to let anything happen to you again." He told her, his voice firm. Kairi snuggled closer to him, smiling sadly.

"Well, don't do anything too stupid, 'cause I don't want to loose you either." She told him. He smirked.

"Since when do I do anything stupid?" He asked. Kairi grinned.

"Remember the time that you fell out of the paopu tree because you thought it would be cool to climb the rest of the way up with no hands? And the time that you almost broke your arm because you wanted to jump from the beach house roof onto the bridge? And-." She teased, not finishing because Sora started tickling her. She burst out laughing, trying to squirm out of his grasp, though couldn't manage to resist much as her laughter weakened her. She grabbed a pillow as her last resort, and started to hit Sora with it. He lifted his hands to his head to block the pillow. Finding her chance, she threw the pillow at his face and rolled off his lap, falling with a crash to the floor. Pulling the pillow from his face, Sora made a face, having gotten a mouthful of fluff from the pillow. Kairi couldn't help but laugh at the look of disoriented confusion on his face as he tried to get his bearings in the room again. Someone's sudden yelling startled both of them as Kairi scrambled to her feet.

"RIKKU TO THE RESCUE!" Turning, Kairi saw Rikku starting to run to her aid and giggling. Another person entered the room seconds later and grabbed Rikku by the wrist, pulling her to a sudden stop and causing her to stumble backwards a bit. Gippal grinned.

"Looks like Kairi doesn't need much to be rescued." He observed, holding Rikku easily as she struggled to get free.

"Gippal! Let. Go. Of. Me!" She commanded, finally wrenching her wrist from his grasp. She was about to start towards Kairi and Sora again, but as soon as she was turned around, Gippal grabbed both of her wrists and, holding her arms behind her with one hand, grabbed her by the waist and rendered her completely helpless. "Gippal!" Rikku whined, giving up on struggling. Both Sora and Kairi had given up on trying to keep from laughing. Rikku scowled. Rolling her eyes, Paine walked in.

"Rikku and Gippal were supposed to tell you that we're thinking of going out for dinner and we wanted to know where and when you guys wanted to go, but they're both apparently much to preoccupied with flirting, so I'll just have to tell you." She said, her voice showing, as always, her lack of interest. Immediately, Gippal let go of Rikku and Rikku scrambled to get away from him. Both Al Bheds mumbled some insistence that they weren't flirting. Paine pretended not to hear and told Sora and Kairi that they were going to talk about dinner plans in the games room in ten minutes. She turned and left, Rikku and Gippal following her dejectedly. Kairi was trying desperately not to laugh, and as soon as she was sure that Rikku and Gippal were out of earshot, turned to face Sora. His face was all screwed up to in an attempt to keep from laughing as well, and it was enough to make Kairi burst out laughing. Sora started to laugh too, and it took both of them quite a while to calm down long enough to even speak. Kairi glanced down the hall, still grinning.

"You think we should head downstairs?" She asked offhandedly. Instead of a reply, she got a pillow in the back of the head. Spinning, she picked up the pillow from the ground and snatched up another one from the chair next to her (and, incidentally, there were only two pillows in the room). Sora was standing next to the couch, looking very smug. It took him a moment to notice that Kairi had grabbed the pillows, and once he did, it was too late and he found himself being battered with them.

"Hey! Ah, Kairi, no fair!" He complained, trying helplessly for a few seconds to block Kairi's attacks. Then, he paused for a moment. Intent on battering Sora with the pillows as much as she could before he managed to somehow return her attacks, Kairi was rather surprised when Sora stopped trying to block the pillows and watched her with a strange look on his face. Within moments, she caught sight of the mischievous glimmer in his eyes and prepared for him to try snatching on of the pillows away from her. Instead, he caught her by the waist and pulled her towards him. Kairi, startled, didn't even get the chance to resist.

"He-!" She started to exclaim, still battering Sora with pillows. Her voice was cut off when he tilted her chin up and kissed her. She melted instantly, dropping the pillows to wrap her arms around his neck. When he broke the kiss, Kairi looked away, frowning a little.

"Hey…" Sora whispered, gently turning her head so she faced his again.

"You cheated." Kairi said, trying to sound disappointed but instead, cracking a smile. Sora grinned back at her.

"Maybe, but you weren't in any hurry to stop me were you?" He asked, kissing her again and again. Kairi giggled, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway towards the stairs. They arrived at the games room on time to hear that Rin had offered to have them for dinner, since his shop on the Highroad wasn't too far away. He'd even sent a hover to take them there as soon as they were ready. Yuna grinned.

"He must really want to make up for messing up the machina." She decided. Rikku half giggled, half frowned.

"I'm glad we found out who it really was, otherwise you were gonna blame me!"

"Who can blame them? You're so clumsy, I'm kind of surprised you didn't mess up the investigation." Gippal said. Rikku scowled at him.

"I'm not clumsy….just a little off balance." She told him, sticking her nose in the air. Paine smirked.

"That's funny, you're never off balance on the airship. Are you sure you're not just clumsy?" She asked. Rikku frowned.

"Paine!" she whined. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Says who?" she asked incredulously.

"Says me!" Rikku decided, crossing her arms. Gippal grinned.

"Well, whatever the meddma bnehlacc says, goes. We should listen." Gippal said mockingly. Rikku blushed and glared at him. Gippal shook his head. " Awww, is Cid's little girl getting embarrassed?" He asked, walking over to her and slinging his arm around her shoulders. Rikku slipped away from him to go stand beside Paine, pouting. Paine sighed.

"Lay off, Gippal." she commanded lazily. Despite her tone of voice, Paine demanded respect and was considered an authority by nearly everyone who knew her. Even Gippal usually listened to her, and thankfully, this was one of those times.

…….

Reaching the bottom of the stairs leading from Luca to the Mi'hien Highroad, the group heard a whirring sound fading into the distance that sounded suspiciously like a hover driving away. Reaching the top of the stairs, they found the hover that was supposed to be waiting for them gone and the commercial hover starting up. The young Al Bhed driver motioned for them to get on. Yuna went to talk to him, but he shushed her and motioned for her to get on. She gave him a funny look.

"I owe Rin a favour, and if he's ever needed a favour it's now. You all get a free ride but be quick about it! And hold on tight!" He commanded, his accent thick. The group piled on, way too many people for the hover, but from the tone of the driver's voice, it was obviously an emergency. The man started the machine and the hover kicked off, accelerating at a frightening pace. They reached the store in half the time it usually took, and it was a good thing too. There were smashed machina everywhere, and Rin was huddling inside an old ruin, which was sitting precariously on the edge of the cliff. The fall itself wasn't deadly, but landing beneath the old ruin would definitely be fatal. Leaving the ruin, it seemed, was an even worse idea. An angry looking Chocobo Eater was crouched next to the ruin. It's hands were too big to get inside the ruin to where Rin was hiding, so it was shoving the huge stone wreckage closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. The hover pulled to a screeching stop. Rikku was the first off.

"I told you it was the Chocobo Eater's fault! Now he's back and breaking more machina!" She said, changing into the Alchemist dressphere. Paine got off next to her.

"I still maintain it was Rin." She replied, changing into Black Mage. Tipping her hat, she smirked and cast Focus. Yuna hopped off the hover, Tidus moments after her. She changed into the Songstress dressphere, rolling her eyes at Paine and Rikku's little argument. Kairi and Sora were off next. Taking quick aim, Kairi shot her disk at the fiend, cutting it into the hand that was pushing the ruin off the cliff (the other was trying to break the opening so it was big enough to reach inside). Roaring, it turned its attention from Rin to the people standing by the hover. Immediately, Yuna started to cast Brake Dance (inflicts stop). Sora and Tidus ran for the ruin, pulling Rin out amid the deafening sound of stone against stone as it fell down the cliff face. The three of them ran back towards the hover, where the driver was set and ready to get himself and Rin a good distance out of the way. Gippal slung how gun over his shoulder, taking full advantage of their moment to prepare as Yuna held the creature in a stop.

"This should be fun." He said. Baralai, standing next to him, had a hard time telling if he was being sarcastic or not. All of them, other than Gippal, were standing ready, Yuna still dancing. Suddenly, the Eater broke out of the stop. Yuna stumbled, swearing under her breath.

"That's never happened before!" She muttered, unable to catch her balance. Tidus caught her wrist, pulling her upright. The Chocobo Eater let out an earspilting roar and started towards them. Gippal started, fumbling with his gun as the furious creature ran towards them. It swiped at them with its huge paw. Kairi was standing just out of range. As soon as it passed her, she ran at it, using its lowered arm as a spring board to launch herself high above the Eater's head. Dropping to the ground, she shot her disk at the back of its head. However, the fiend lowered its head and her disk sailed clear over it. Baralai dove out of the way, shoving Paine away as well. The swipe narrowly missed the both of them as they tumbled across the ground. LeBlanc was backed away from it, preparing a spell. Nooj was standing just in front of her. They were the last defense before the Chocobo Eater could reach Rin and the hover driver, who were down the road a little ways, taking care of Rin's injuries. Sora and Tidus were both out of the range of the swipe. Sora shot almost a constant blast of fire at it, while Tidus grabbed the still disoriented Yuna, pulling her out of the way. Gippal, caught off guard by the beast's premature break from the stop, tried to dive out of the way, but didn't quite make it. The creature's paw caught him and flung him onto the ground, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Rikku frowned, glancing over at him, trying to see if he was going to be okay, but at the same time trying to keep her attention on the fight. Groaning, Gippal started to roll over to get up, not realizing how close he was to the edge. Rikku spun.

"Gippal!" She yelled in warning. He looked up at her, becoming suddenly aware of where he was and scrambled away from the edge. The Eater caught sight of him and growled, kicking out at him. Gippal reached for his gun, only to find that it was lying on the ground a good distance away from him. He swore colourfully in Al Bhed before he found himself suddenly dropping, taking his voice from him. Rikku snatched Gippal's gun up from off the ground before the fiend got the chance to smash it, running to the edge of the cliff. She could see him on the ground below, half-covered by the trees. It looked like he hadn't landed very well. In any case, there was no way she'd ever get down to him until the fight was over, and then they'd all have to take the long way around. She changed into Trainer and handed the gun to her monkey. "Take this to Gippal, and cast Ghiki Pep and Ghiki Meds on him. Go!" Immediately, the monkey snatched the gun from her, taking it in one hand, and began to climb skillfully down the side of the cliff. Keeping one eye on her pet, she watched the battle, taking care to make sure the Eater wasn't approaching. Then, some in the shadows next to the store caught her eye. There was a length of rope draped over one of the boxes. Sneaking around the fight, she grabbed it and headed back to the cliff. She secured it and started to lower herself down the cliff. Halfway down, she realized there was a little problem. The rope went only two thirds of the way down. There was at least a ten foot drop from the bottom of the rope to the ground. She groaned, then called to Ghiki. The monkey peered out of the canopy of one of the trees at her. "Swarm Swarm!" She commanded. The little monkey disappeared. Moments later, a dozen other monkeys like Ghiki appeared and scrambled up the tree all together to help Rikku the rest of the way down. Landing softly on the ground, she searched for Gippal. He was sitting hidden in the shadows, behind one of the trees. She walked over and sat down next to him, Ghiki dropping out of the tree onto his 'perch' on top of her head. Gippal gave her a weird look. She ignored it.

"You okay?" She asked, eyeing him. His breathing was overly heavy, but it was probably just from the drop. He shrugged.

"Not bad." He answered. "Pulled a muscle I think, but your little monkey dude fixed that pretty well. Not bad, considering the fall." He said, looking up through the leaves to the surprisingly distant looking top of the cliff. Rikku grinned. Ghiki climbed down onto her shoulder, down her arm and into her lap.

"You like Ghiki then?" She asked, still grinning as the little monkey peered curiously at Gippal. He shrugged and stood up. He offered his hand to Rikku, but Ghiki swatted his hand away, glowering at him. Gippal raised his eyebrows.

"A bit overprotective of you, don't you think? Considering he's a monkey and all…"

"Monkeys are just as loyal as anything! Ghiki's just as loyal as Kogoro!" Rikku informed him, standing up and letting Ghiki climb back up onto her head. (AN: Kogoro is Yuna's dog). She rolled her eyes. "But seeing as how Ghiki's making you uncomfortable and all…" With that, she changed back into her usual Thief. Gippal looked a little confused. Rikku frowned, pretending to look like she felt sorry for him. "Aww, was Ghiki too intimidating for you?" She asked, trying to look innocent. Neither of them were too sure why they teased each other so constantly, when is started or how it started, but it had been like that for as long as either of them could remember. Gippal was pondering just that when both their attention was draw upwards by a frantic shout from Yuna.

"Look out!" Even though her voice was distant and muffled, the urgency was clear. Both Rikku and Gippal looked upwards to find the Chocobo Eater tumbling through the air towards them.

…………….

Dun dun dun! My apologies for the crappiness in the middle (I'm talking around page 3 in a word doc). Ah well. The rest of it was good i hope! Be sure to R+R, for those of you who are looking for to RikkuGippal action, look forward to next chappie! (and emma, you look forward to next chappie too, k? wink wink nudge nudge)