I didn't have the strength to fight

Suddenly you seemed so right

Me and you

What a feeling

"Rikku?" Her mind wasn't in the job as they walked down the Mi'hen Highroad together, thoughts that had nothing to with machina in her head.

Gippal had wanted to say he was sorry, right? Well she could end this now, walk up to him and accept the apology, possibly even getting as far as making a date for tomorrow night.

But what if she didn't want to?

She was split into two, one side wanting to end the feud, the other wanting it to rage on forever. But what was the point? Rikku loved him, yes, there was no denying that. She just didn't want to hurt anymore. Could they ever leave the past behind, start a new life, and hope it didn't end as badly as the first try?

Maybe they could.

"Rikku?" It seemed so simple, yet so complicated. If Yuna was there, being the sappy romantic she was, she'd demand her cousin go over to Gippal right then and hold him forever. "Rikku?"

"What?" He was staring at her, hand on his hip and an annoyed expression on his tanned face.

"Can we go?" She hadn't realized that she had stopped, and a blush crept over her face.

"Uh...yeah." Rikku started to run, wanting badly to get away from the past and move on. But he was right behind her, and he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The machina was up ahead, looking as old and lifeless as when they brought it in. Two children were standing in front of it, pointing and wondering over the huge piece of metal.

"How did it get here? It looks exactly the same..." The younger Al Bhed didn't know, and didn't answer him. She was busy watching it, waiting for it to do something unexpected and dangerous. But it didn't, it didn't even move an inch.

"Hey...uh...guys? You think you could get away from there?" She wanted to study it, but not with children in the way who could get hurt or even killed.

They stared at her for a second, than ran away as if they had been caught doing something very bad. Gippal had taken the hint and had already ran over, checking the machine and examining every piece and part.

"I don't see anything here ..." Rikku was silent, placing one hand on her hip and rolling her eyes. Her first thought was he wasn't looking hard enough. But maybe there really wasn't anything to the machine.

"Okay, I'll call Brother and we'll take this thing back to Djose and see why it...moved." She had pressed the button on her mic when the blue stripe cracked open. Her eyes caught the movement and her lips opened to form a word. It was too late.

A loud noise, almost like a gunshot, filled the air and for a moment Rikku thought she was deaf.

Her first instinct was to run forward and take the offending metal apart. That was exactly what she did. Later the young al bhed wondered why she assumed Gippal was fighting alongside her. Not once did he say anything, and not once did she see him.

The thing was fairly easy, being well over a thousand years old. A huge gun had arisen from the blue stripe, trying desperately to aim at it's attacker. Luckily, she was too swift. With one last swipe it gave way and crashed to the ground, Rikku suppressed the urge to cover her ears.

Later she remembered how she had jumped, a victory pose she had gotten used to and then cried softly as she saw the crumpled form behind the rubble. It wasn't him, no, it was more of the machina, wearing purple clothes and an eye patch.

She thought she would scream.

Her feet had never been so quick and she was by his side in seconds. He was unconscious, she knew that by the way his chest went up and down. A feeling of immense relief washed over her. What was that incredible feeling of loss that had creeped up on her before?

"G...Gippal?" She shook him softly and repeated his name, waiting for his eye to open. It didn't and she shook him harder, her voice cracking slightly this time. What if was stuck like this forever? She had heard of it happening before. "Gippal? I'm sorry really, I'll forgive you! I don't care what happened! I don't, I sware! Just...Just wake up, okay?"

She caught the tiny smile that had crossed his handsome features and her eyes widened. He had been awake the entire time. Rikku almost slapped him, but the relief was to great and all she could do was grin.

"So, you forgive me Cid's-Rikku?" She stood up and started to walk away, leaving him to get himself up from the ground.

"Maybe." It was his turn to grin.

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Heh, sorry it took so long, I'm probably only going to do one more chapter and use the rest of the lyrics then, but who knows? And thanks for all the feedback, I love it!