Hey, I'm putting up a pre-note again! No disclaimer (Yeah, yeah, go ahead and sue me), but a pre-note. Just 'cause I got something to say and I know I'll forget if I wait.

Wingheart: Sorry if Rikku being gay is freaky. I thought somebody would react that way (I know from experience that quote-un-quote [Yeah, yeah, leave me and my grammar alone] "controversial" people can make "normal" people squeamish), but I thought it was a good idea because I hadn't seen it anywhere. I don't really want to remove it (yeah, I'm a bitch), but rest assured it won't play a big part in the story, except this chapter. Also, yeah, me and my friend Angie (A.K.A. Rally or Cy) wrote the song specifically for DOE. And, yes, I am Wiccan. Been a student for almost my year-and-a-day time period (I'll be fully-fledged on February 18th, if I can convince my solitary-practitioner friends to form a coven with me. Not that you NEED a coven to be a witch…. I'll just shut up now).

Trying a new character's point of view. Tell me if you like it, okay? Oh, you'll need your trusty Al Bhed translator for this chapter ^_^

*-.-*

"Does anyone have a hairbrush I can use?"

"Where are me kanzashi?"

"Rikku, could you help me tie my obi?"

"Where the hell did I put my jacket?"

"Rikku, help me tie my obi already!"

"Okay, Yunie, calm down!" I postponed my frantic search for a hairbrush and rushed to my cousin's room, where she was standing, craning her neck to see her obi's reflection in the mirror behind her. I quickly helped her tie the pink sash around her waist, and made her turn and face me. I examined her furisode, the bright kimono with over-long sleeves that Yunie told me was the fanciest kimono unmarried woman could wear. The kimono custom, she had said, was so old, no books around today could trace it. I, personally, thought they were beautiful, no matter how old they were.

Let me take a second to explain this outfit. There are, like, twenty freaking parts to it and Yunie and me went over each of them. She has this white kimono-like thing that she wears under it, the obi (Which, I might add, is three different parts: the obi, the obiage, a thinner sash that's tucked into the obi, and obijime, a cord that ties around the whole thing), and the kimono. Okay, so it's not really twenty parts. But it's a lot!

Yunie's kimono was a festive purple with a design of all different types of flowers embroidered into it and, like I said, her obi was pink. All the parts of it were a different shade, the darkest being the almost-magenta obijime and the lightest the powder pink obiage. I already did her makeup, but she wouldn't let me put on a lot. She doesn't need it, anyway. I just put on some dark eye shadow and lip gloss. Stuff like that.

She smiled at me, and I smiled back. "Well," I said. "I have to find a hair brush."

Yunie blushed lightly and went over to her bedside table, pulling a familiar black hairbrush out of her drawer. "Sorry," she said with a little bow. "I borrowed it earlier and forgot to give it back."

I grinned at my cousin. "It's okay, Yunie. I'm sure you have a lot on your mind."

"I do," she admitted with a sheepish smile.

Last week, she had told us she didn't want to be the Maestress of Spira anymore. It was a huge shock for all of us. Wakka and Lulu didn't want Yuna to resign, but it was what she wanted. They'd been trying to convince her to change her mind all that week, but it was no use. When Yuna made a decision, I don't think there's a force ever created that could change her mind. She's so stubborn, and has been as long as I've known her.

I knew why Yuna had wanted to quit being Maestress. The others probably did, too, but I wasn't sure. See, she took a few days off after Tidus came back, and she was so swamped in paperwork that she only came out of her room to eat. Two nights in a row she went to bed late and woke up early, and that was just to make up the paperwork for three days. She didn't get to see Tidus at all.

Only two days passed when she called us all to the living room ((A/N: to answer any confusion, the living room is connected to the dining room. When you first walk in, you're in a little hallway. You can either go straight or up the stairs. If you go straight, you go into the dining room, and there's two doors in there: one leads to the kitchen, one leads to the living room. Get it? Jesus, I should draw blueprints or something…)), telling us she had an announcement to make. She said, flat out, that she was going to resign as Maestress. Like I said, we were all shocked.

But that was in the past; back to my story. We were all getting ready for the ball, and were ready to snap at anyone for practically anything. I quickly went back to my room, brushing my hair as I went. On the way there, I knocked into Tidus and, true to my Short Fuse theory, he snapped, "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

I sighed in response and muttered, "Sorry." I quickly went into my room and shut the door behind me. "Cusaputo cyja sa" I muttered in Al Bhed. I shuddered. If Tidus was this uptight, I didn't even want to see Lulu. If anyone needed Setum (An Al Bhed medicine for woman during "that time of the month"), it was her. That woman was a total menstrual case every day.

I quickly and carefully secured my hair in a pony tail on the top of my head and began rummaging through my drawers. I triumphantly held up the item I was searching for: an Al Bhed linmehk enuh. I promptly clicked the power switch and sat back to wait for it to heat up. I knew it wouldn't take long. I examined my reflection in the full-length mirror across from me, looking absentmindedly into my own eyes.

The weirdest thing happened then. There was a bright flash outside my bedroom window, which I saw reflected in the mirror. However, that wasn't all the mirror exposed. For a split second, only as long as it would take lightning to strike, there was a man standing behind me. He had silver-gray hair that grew shaggily to his shoulders. He had eyes that could've been pale, pale blue or gray: I didn't get the chance to see. He was dressed in a simple white tunic and white pants that looked more like thick tights, and boots of worn brown leather adorned his feet and calves.

Afraid, I turned around. No one was there.

I turned back to the mirror. He was gone. Whoever he was, he was gone.

I walked cautiously over to the window and opened it. I leaned outside, looking around the backyard. There was nothing there.

I shuddered. Was I going crazy? Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself back into my room. I turned around and walked over to the mirror, falling slowly to my knees before it. I could almost see something… I raised a hand to the glass, to touch a fingerprint on the surface. Everything seemed so surreal. What had that light been? I wondered. Who was that man? Why had I seen him? Had I imagined it? Once again I wondered if I was going crazy. And with that stunt yesterday… one could only assume…

"Rikku?" Yuna's questioning voice snapped my out of my thoughts. I looked up. She had her hands clasped in front of her. Her eyes were both curious and worried. "What're you doing?"

"Oh," I said quickly, looking back to the mirror. "Just cleaning off this finger print. It was annoying me, you know?" I quickly wiped the fingerprint off the glass with the edge of my skirt.

"Hey, what's this?" my cousin asked, reaching for the metal part of my linmehk enuh.

"Don't touch that!" I said loudly, grabbing it by the handle. Yuna frowned, confused. "Sorry," I apologized quickly. "It's hot. I didn't want you to burn yourself."

"Oh," my cousin said quietly, looking down. "Sorry."

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry about it. It's called a linmehk enuh. Al Bhed woman use it to make their hair curly. See?" I grabbed a piece of hair from my pony tail and clipped the end onto the machina. I then moved the tool closer to my head, curling more of the strand along it all the while. Once it so close it was almost touching my scalp, I stopped, and held it there a moment. After a second, I undid the clip and pulled the thing from my hair, exposing a little blonde ringlet.

Yuna smiled, her eyes showing amusement. "Are you going to do that to all your hair?"

"Yep!" I say, flashing one of my trademark way-to-happy smiles.

She returned the gesture, more subdued than me, and sat down at the edge of my bed. "I'm nervous," she admitted in a worried voice, wringing her unseen hands together.

I turned back to doing my hair. "About giving you speech?" I guessed, watching her reflection in my mirror.

She nodded. "Yes. I'm so worried that… that none of them will support me, that they won't want a new ruler."

I smiled reassuringly at her, pushing my own worries from my head. "Don't worry, Yunie. Everyone loves you. They'll agree with whatever you decide. Don't worry about it."

She smiled at me. This time it was I who smiled back as I grabbed another small portion of hair. Yunie watched me for a minute, then told me she was going to go help Tidus get ready.

"He somehow lost his coat," Yuna said, grinning. Tidus wasn't really into the whole "tux" thing, especially since Yunie and I kept teasing him about how "cute" he looked in it. Oh, well. We take our fun when we can get it.

--

"I'm worried," Yunie admitted on our way to the temple, where the ball was being held. It was the official Six Months Ball. It was a new tradition, starting that year. Today, exactly six months ago, we all defeated Sin. I know, I know, earlier I said that it had been six months since Tidus disappeared, but, hey. I was estimating. Leave me alone.

I turned my head and looked at my cousin. "I told you. It'll be fine."

"I'm not really so worried about my speech. I thought of something else." She stopped walking and turned to face me, meeting my eyes with her own fearful ones. "What if he disappears again?"

I stared. "Oh no… I never even thought of that. Oh, Yunie, do you think he could?"

Her eyes looked even more scared, and she whispered, "I don't know. But, it is the six month anniversary, you know. As good a time as any for whatever brought him here to take him back." She looked down. "I'm worried," she said again.

"Me, too," I agreed quietly, and wrapped my arms around her shoulders in what I hoped was a reassuring hug. "I don't think he will, though. I can… feel it, you know?"

Yunie returned the hug, and pulled away. "Thanks, Rikku. For everything you've done for me since Tidus left."

I smiled up at her. "You know what they say. 'A friend in need's a friend indeed.'"

"Who's in need?" Tidus had just finished his conversation with Wakka and had decided to join ours.

"You are, Tidus. In need of a brain!" I said hitting him on the head jokingly. "Don't eavesdrop." I turned to Yunie, grinning. "You've taught him to sit and speak, can't you teach him some manners?"

My cousin laughed. "I've tried, believe me. I think he has more of his father in him than he'll admit." She said the last part with a sidelong look the one we were talking about.

He faked hurt, then just gave up the act and, grinning, slung his arm over Yuna's shoulders.

"Hey!" I said, holding my hands up. "We are bonding here, in case you didn't notice!"

"Well, then, bond with me."

"No thanks, you're her boyfriend," I say, choosing the less-appropriate use of the word "bonding." "You guys bond." With that shot a quick smile at Yunie and started walking again. Soon after I heard the two of them start walking, keeping well behind me.

Well, I would be surprised if they could catch up to me. I was practically running. I couldn't wait to see Alia again. We had agreed to meet there, but we hadn't said where or when, and I didn't want her to have to wait a while, you know?

I, of course, made it to the temple first of our group. However, that didn't mean I was the first person there. All of Spira was invited, and it looked like all of them had come. It felt like there were so many people on Besaid that the poor little island would sink under the weight.

The temple was much bigger than it used to be. Popular demand had had one of the outer walls knocked down, a bunch of the forest destroyed, and then rebuilt so it was almost four times bigger than it had been before. Even still, there were a lot more people outside than in. And once I stepped past those huge, heavy doors, I could tell why. Despite being made entirely of stone and marble (Which usually made the temple cool compared to the hot Besaid sun), it was sweltering hot in there. I sighed. How the heck would I be able to find Alia in this place? I would be lucky if I found Tidus and Yuna again.

There were a bunch of benches and chairs all along the walls, and I made my way over to one and sat down. There was a hidden nyteu that was playing a variety of different types of music, catering to all tastes: a fast-paced techno song was followed up by smooth jazz, and when that ended, a soft, lilting waltz played from unseen speakers. Couples were already dancing. It was nice to watch them as they completely ignored the heat. Despite the ever-climbing temperature, people floated across the floor during the waltz, looking as though they were walking on air. Some couples left the floor when a pop song, no doubt sung by some anorexic bleach-blonde slut, came on, and others took the places of those who departed. But my favorite to watch was the people who came out during the jazz and swing songs. It looked like so much fun to dance with them. Their feet pounded in rhythm with the song. Men lifted their female partners, twirled them around or swinging them on the floor between their legs on the slippery floor and generally had fun. I would have loved to be out there with them, but I didn't know how to dance like that. I wondered absently if I could recruit one of those dancers to teach me their ways.

I saw Tidus and Yuna talking to a group of people who looked far older than them. Well, actually, Yuna was talking to them, Tidus was standing there pretending to be interested. He was far too easy to read for the act to be fun. Back when Auron was with us, I always tried to guess what he was thinking. Same with Kimahri. You can never tell what either of them really feel about you.

"Hey," said a male voice to my left. I turned my head and saw that the seat next to me had become occupied while I was so caught up in watching everyone. The person sitting there was a boy, probably a little older than me: maybe Yunie and Tidus's age. Or maybe he was mine; I couldn't tell. So I just smiled and responded with a simple "hi," hoping he would leave it at that.

Of course, he didn't. "You're Rikku, right?"

I looked back at him. Well, he was certainly good-looking, even if I wasn't interested in boys. He had brown hair that grew to about just below his ears, and laughing brown eyes. I smiled flirtatiously. Hey, might as well enjoy it while it lasts, I figured. "That depends: who wants to know?"

He smiled back. "I'm Briet."

I tilted my head slightly and extended my hand. "Well, you were right; I am Rikku. It's nice to meet you, Briet."

He took my hand but, instead of shaking it, as I had expected him to do, he kissed it just above the knuckles. "Charmed," he said, looking up with just his eyes.

"Well, the feeling is mutual, I assure you." I hadn't been lying, either; he really was quite charming. The weird thing was, it didn't feel at all strange to be flirting with Briet. He was sweet, and good-looking, but my heart was in it far more than I felt it should be. I felt like I was abandoning Alia. I suddenly remembered that she was who I was waiting her for. I turned around to be sure that she wasn't here and watching her girlfriend being courted by a boy. She wasn't, so I turned back to Briet.

"What's up?" he asked, his eyes curious.

"Oh, I'm waiting for someone."

"Uh-oh. Let me guess: you already have a boyfriend."

I laughed. "No, of course not!" Hey, he didn't ask if I was in a relationship.

"So, if I ask you to dance, I won't have to worry about some guy coming and telling me I was hitting on his girlfriend?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Nope, you have no need to worry."

"Then, do you want to dance?"

It was then that I realized a slow song (A slow pop song, but, whatever, beggars can't be choosers) had just come on. Briet stood and held his hand out to me. Still smiling, I placed my small hand in his larger one and stood. "I'd love to."

He led me out onto the dance floor and put his hands on my hips. I put mine around his neck. He was taller than me by about three inches. Not a whole lot, but for some reason I remembered that Alia was only an inch taller, if that. Alia. The name echoed through my head as thought someone were shouting it across a large, empty room. It echoed ominously around my brain. She was my date here. I shouldn't be dancing with this boy. I was here with Alia.

But she isn't here yet, argued another part of my brain. So one dance couldn't hurt… right? And, if she hadn't been so afraid to tell people how we were, I wouldn't be in this situation. News travels fast. The whole island would know by now.

From these thoughts sprang forth another: I wasn't gay. I was enjoying dancing with this boy. But I really liked Alia. Maybe even loved her. Maybe. So I wasn't straight. But I wasn't gay, either.

It was then that I realized Briet had been talking to me. "What? Sorry, I missed that," I said, feeling my face flush.

Briet smiled. "I said, what was it like fighting Sin? I mean, you and your friends are the reason we're all here tonight, right?"

"Yeah. At first, it was really scary. It was like nothing I'd ever done before. When I first joined the pilgrimage, I was really inexperienced. But I trained along the way and stuff. And then, learning that everything Yevon had taught his people was a lie, that was really weird. I mean, knowing that everything my people have fought for was true--" I stopped dead. Shit. That was the only thing I could think: shit. Even though it was well-known that Yevon was a fraud, there were still Al Bhed-haters. Some things are just impossible to stop. I accepted this reasoning along with the fact that everyone just needed a scapegoat: someone to blame everything on. My people and I were the unlucky choice.

Briet was looking at me with a confused look on his face. I bit my lip. I had to tell him and hope he didn't hate me for it. "Can I tell you a secret? No one knows it, except the people who were on the pilgrimage with me, so you can't tell anyone. Promise?"

"I promise," he agreed.

I looked around quickly, then leaned up and whispered in his ear, "I'm Al Bhed."

When I pulled away, I was surprised to see that he was smiling. "Why's that such a big secret?"

"Cause, even though everyone knows that Yevon lied, there are still people who hate people like me."

"Well, I don't hate you. That would be hypocritical."

I looked up at him, confused.

"I'm part Al Bhed," he clarified.

"You are?" I looked him up and down. "You don't look it." I peered up into his eyes. "And you don't have Al Bhed eyes."

"Yeah, well, I'm only a small part. My mother was half-and-half, so that makes me only a really little bit."

I nodded my understanding. Again, I suddenly remembered Alia. I was supposed to be waiting for her. I looked around. She was just coming in the main door. She saw me almost immediately, a look of shock claiming her face as she did. But she quickly covered it up and smiled at me. I smiled back, and she sat down on one of the benches against the wall to wait for me.

Briet saw our brief exchange. "Who's that?"

I looked back at him. "That's my friend, Alia. She's the one I was waiting for. See, neither of us had dates, so we were going to go together, but we decided just to meet up here. I mean, what would people say if they saw two girls walk in together?"

Briet shrugged. "It's not as uncommon as you think. You know, girls going together, as friends or, you know, otherwise. A lot of people like people who're the same sex as them." He grinned crookedly. "Like my sister."

I smiled, returning to my normal, bubbly self. "You have a sister? Me too! How old?"

"She just turned twenty. She was going to be a summoner, but we talked her out of it. How old is yours?"

Rikku smiled. "Close to yours. Twenty-one, I think. I haven't seen her in a while."

The song ended, and I smiled up at Briet. "Thanks for the dance."

He took my hand and kissed it again. "The pleasure is all mine," he said, his brown eyes twinkling.

Once again, I smiled and started walking over to Alia. Much to my surprise, Briet followed.

"Alia! Where've you been?" I exclaimed once I was seated next to her.

She grinned, looking lightly embarrassed. "You know how my mom likes to go over the top with things?" At my nod, she continued, "Well, she kept telling me stuff like 'Do more with your hair!' or 'Put on some more eye shadow!' She kept insisting that I had to look nice." She at me, framing her face mockingly with her hands. "How do I look?"

I smiled back at her. "You look great. All that work really paid off. And, besides, everyone knows the fashionably late rule." The last sentence was said with a mockingly high-pitched voice and a disdainful hand gesture.

I realized Briet was sitting next to me, and hurriedly introduced him to Alia. We all talked for a while, until I decided I was hungry. "I'll be right back," I said, standing. "I'm going to get some food."

Alia stood, too. "I'll go with you." I smiled and nodded. I was glad for the company. Together, we made our way outside, where there were tables and tables of all sorts of food. "Whoa," I said. "I think this is the most food I've seen in my whole life!"

Alia laughed. "Yeah, me too."

Together we made our way past dish after dish, some hot, some cold, most looking delicious. I grabbed a plate and began piling food on it. Fried chocobo meat, fruits of all kinds, pasta and Malboro sauce, and more that I couldn't name. There was also some sort of green jelly-like thing. I didn't get anywhere near it, and me and Alia made jokes about what could be in it.

"It's probably got, like, poison or something in it."

"Cyanide!" Alia exclaimed happily.

"Laudanum!" I countered.

We looked at each other. "Crack!" we exclaimed in unison, before erupting into giggles. Don't ask, it's an old inside joke.

A couple minutes later, our plates were full and we made our way back to the temple.

"Hey, Rikku?"

"Yeah?"

"Why were you dancing with that guy? Briet, or whatever his name is?"

I laughed lightly. "I was being polite. He asked me to dance, what was I supposed to say, you know?"

Alia looked down, not answering. I sighed. "Look, if he asks me to dance again, I'll say no, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry, I don't mind. You looked like you were having fun. You can dance as much as you like."

I raised my eyebrows. "You sure?"

Alia nodded, smiling. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I want you to have fun."

I smiled back. "Okay, cool." By this time, we were back to our original seats, and we had another conversation with Briet, this time about the green blob someone had been trying to call food.

--

"Hey, Rikku, you wanna dance?" Briet asked as a slow song came on.

I looked to Alia, a 'would you mind?' look on my face. She smiled and shook her slightly. I turned back to Briet. "I'd love to."

We stood and walked out onto the dance floor again. Again I looped my arms around his neck, and again he put his hands on my hips. It all felt so… I don't know the word. Planned, maybe, but that makes it sound negative. Normal, maybe.

We didn't really talk as much as last time. I taught him some simple Al Bhed, under his request, which he picked up on rather quick, but that was pretty much it.

At one point, my eyes strayed to where I had left Alia. She had wandered off somewhere, but I didn't worry. I figured she'd seen another of her friends, or had gone to get food. Something like that.

The song ended and we went back to our seat at the same time as Alia returned from outside. I smiled at her and waved, but she returned neither gesture. She just grabbed my arm when I was within the needed distance, and said simply, "We have to talk."

I nodded, frowning confusedly. "Okay…"

She looked around. "Outside."

I nodded again, still confused, and looked at Briet. "Excuse us for a minute?"

He nodded. "Sure." His eyes alone showed his curiosity, asking a silent question, to which I shrugged.

Alia pulled me outside and led me away from all the people, down an alley out of anyone's hearing distance. "Why didn't you tell me you were Al Bhed?" she asked, hurt showing in her eyes.

I stared at her, shocked. "I didn't think it mattered," I said, frowning even more.

"Oh, of course. I mean, why wouldn't it matter that you're a heathen?"

My eyes and mouth were wide. "What?!" I practically shouted. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Though I had been called a heathen all throughout my life, it had never been by someone I loved. "Why are you doing this, Alia? You use machina too, and you don't believe in Yevon anymore, so why are you so mad?"

"You lied to me, Rikku!"

"No I didn't!"

"Well you certainly didn't tell me the truth!"

"Because I didn't think it matter!" I exclaimed, grabbing her hands. "Alia, I like you so much! I thought you liked me, too!"

She was silent for a moment, allowing me to hold her hands. "I don't think we should see each other anymore," she said quietly, looking down.

I stared. "What?" I almost whispered. "No." I shook my head, as if denying the truth of what she said. "No, Alia, you're joking."

She shook her head and looked into my eyes. "I don't want to be with someone I can't trust."

"But you can trust me! It never came up, so there was no reason to tell you! I would have if you'd just asked me! Don't do this, Alia; please, don't do this to me." Tears had formed in my eyes, and were threatening to spill over.

Her eyes were emotionless. "I'm sorry. You should have told me earlier." She dropped my hands and walked away, turning her back on my for the first time ever.

"Alia." I said. She didn't turn. She didn't even stop walking. "Alia!"

She left the alley, heading back up to the temple.

I leaned against the brick wall. I knew I was going to cry, but I didn't want to do it here. I took a deep breath and tried a smile. It didn't feel as sure as I would have liked, but it would have to do. I walked out of the alley and headed slowly up to the temple.

Yunie and Tidus were outside when I got up to the temple. The were walking towards the beach, but stopped when I approached.

"Rikku," Yuna asked, "is something wrong?"

I didn't answer. I just tried smiling again. "I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna go home and go to sleep."

My cousin nodded, but she still looked concerned. "Do you feel sick? It's only eleven. Usually you can barely fall asleep by three A.M."

I shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno. I just wanna go to sleep."

She nodded again. "Okay… see you later."

"Bye," I said, and turned quickly, before the tears fell from my eyes.

I walked all the way across town, the crystalline, salty tears sliding down my cheeks. I was almost home when…

"Lady Rikku."

It wasn't a voice I recognized. Whoever had said it was behind me, so I dashed away the tears with the back of my hand, and spun around.

When I saw who it was, I gasped. It was the man I'd seen standing behind me before I'd left for the ball!

"Who… are you?" I questioned cautiously. If I'd learned anything during the pilgrimage it was that when potentially dangerous people who obviously had power knew your name, it was best to make sure you knew theirs.

He smiled slightly. "If you need a name, you may call me Theo."

"Theo?" That didn't sound like a Spiran name, and it certainly wasn't Al Bhed. But I didn't want to think about it now. I just wanted to go home and cry myself to sleep.

"Yes, Theo. Or Theophilus, whichever you prefer."

I didn't care. I just wanted to go home. So I said, "That's great, but I really have to go right now." I started to turn around, but Theo grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Please, wait just a minute, Lady Rikku. I need to warn you. I am afraid I cannot give you any specifics, but something bad is going to happen, concerning you and your friends."

I sighed. "We already saved the world once, what else do you want?"

"You saved your world once. I am afraid this is on a much greater scale."

"Huh?" Something more important than saving Spira from its greatest rival in history?

"As I said, I cannot give you any specifics right now, partially because we do not know many, and partially because you would not understand. I have not the time to explain it to you now, nor, I think, have you the time to listen. You look as if you need some rest. So I will not detain you any longer. It was nice to meet you at last, Lady Rikku. We shall meet again soon."

Then, weird as the night had been, something even weirder happened. A multitude of wings, huge, white, feathery, bird-like, wings sprouted from his back. He crouched and jumped high into the air, then caught a current of wind and flew off. I shook my head. I was most definitely going crazy.

Then, all of a sudden, the memory of how my night thus far had been came back to me, and my eyes welled up with tears again. I raced home before I broke down right there, in the middle of the road.

Once I arrived at my house, I raced up to my room and collapsed on my window seat, not bothering to change, take my hair down, or even wipe of my face. I sobbed and sobbed, all thoughts of Theo and the strange encounter pushed from my mind by the grief lost love brought me.

The night was spent sobbing in my room. I cried till I coughed. I cried till I choked. I cried till I got sick. And still I cried more.

Yuna and the rest arrived home around three or four o'clock in the morning. I lay down on my bed and pretended to be asleep when Yuna came to check on my. After she left my room, I heard her return to Tidus's instead of her own, and that made me cry even harder. They were so in love. They loved each other in a way I feared I'd never love anyone again. Unrealistic though it was, I couldn't help but feel like I could never feel for anyone the way I'd felt for Alia.

The next day I didn't come only came out of my room once, to use the bathroom. When I did, I heard Lulu yell up to Yuna and Tidus to get downstairs; they were on the news. Curious, but not ready to face my housemates, I went to my room and turned on the sphere-screen on the wall. I switched it to Besaid's only news channel.

"Everyone new emotions were on the high end between Spira's favorite couple, but I doubt any of us new they were this hot," the anchor was saying. "One of our reporters caught ex-Maestress Yuna and her legendary boyfriend Sir Tidus engaging in what can only safely be called a 'tender moment' during Spira's Six Month Ball," she continued. I stared, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open, as a clip of aforementioned couple making out on the Besaid shore played. Yuna was sitting on Tidus's lap, and one of his hands was across her back and the other was resting on her leg… under the hemline of her skirt. My eyes widened even more when Tidus's lips moved from Yunie's and onto her neck. He kissed the skin exposed by the neckline of her kimono. Her fingers were threaded through his hair, and when he returned to kissing her lips she kissed him back hungrily, her arms moving around his neck to press herself against his chest. She broke off the kiss and rested her head against his chest, his tan skin exposed by his halfway unbuttoned shirt. Tidus finally removed his hand from her kimono and hugged her close. "I think we can safely assume that everything is right as rain between the most famous couple in Spira," the anchor said, before moving on to a different story. Something about fish, I think, but I wasn't listening anymore.

I clicked the sphere off and sat at the edge of my bed, my eyes threatening tears. But these tears weren't for me; they were for my beloved cousin and her boyfriend. They would never be allowed to have a normal relationship, what with them being constantly in the spotlight. And the fact that the question of Yunie's virginity would most obviously be coming up in her next press conference, which she could no longer answer easily, made it even worse. This mixed with the returning worry that I would never have something as wonderful as they did made my tears fall again. It seemed like I would never stop crying.

I went over to my nightstand and plugged in my nyteu, then turned it on. A fast-paced song that I didn't want to listen to right then was on. I turned the knob on the side of the little black box, at first encountering only static. I finally found a song that fit with my emotion. It was a hard rock song in Spiran that I didn't recognize, but I could connect with the lyrics, so I left it. The lead singer's voice, though deep, was almost definitely female, another reason I liked this song. "In this damn society, fake reality, people too blind to even see. Fake smiles and fucked-up styles, how can one of them be me?" The words she sang touched my situation so deeply that I stopped crying, just to listen to the words. It contained a lot of uncensored swears, but I didn't care. I thought it was better when the stations played the songs how they were meant to be, bad words or no.

"I don't know where my love is anymore
And I don't believe there's such a thing, like I never did before
Cause love is just an attempt to cure loneliness
Just another distraction to make you kill some stress."

It was like everything I was thinking, this girl had put to music; like I had written the lyrics myself. As the song progressed, I continued to connect with it, and decided quickly that I had a new favorite song.

After it finished, I learned the song had been called "Fake Reality" and it was by a band called Curbside Prophecy. I was surprised that a Spiran station was playing this song. Stations run by Spirans were few and far between, and this one played all rock songs, or so it claimed. There weren't a lot of people who liked that type of music, and it surprised me that one of them had started their own nyteu station. Not many Spirans admitted to using machina, but most of them did. They were the same people who had looked down on the Al Bhed, had made fun of them while Yevon was still worshipped, and now they were using the creations of those very people. Damn hypocrites.

The last verse of the song stayed lodged in my brain. "I don't know where my life is going, it's just scattered on the floor. Who knew love wasn't all it's cracked up to be? That's why I wanna change this fake reality." It was the one that meant the most to me.

I spent the rest of the day sitting on my window seat, thinking, listening to my new favorite nyteu station, and snapping at anyone who knocked on the door. Wasn't it obvious that I didn't want to talk to anyone?

The next few days sped by in a whirlwind. I didn't notice as they changed from day to night then back to day. Didn't notice, didn't bother to look, didn't care. I didn't even know how long I had been in my room. It could have been a day, or it could have been a week. The only time I left my sanctuary was to use the bathroom.

I didn't feel hunger or thirst. I didn't feel anything. It was like I was numb. I had long since drained all water from my body through my eyes, but I wasn't thirsty. I tried to keep my mind off Alia, but it didn't work for long. During that unmeasured time period I was in my room, I did a lot of things. I drew pictures; wrote songs and poems; slept; sang along to my nyteu, which never went off, not even while I was asleep; or watched my sphere-screen. I watched screen recordings I had collected. They were all in Al Bhed, and they had been shot with the intention of people watching them over and over, specifically for entertainment. I watched everything in my collection. Comedies I had seen a thousand times but hadn't touched since moving in with Yunie were unearthed, as were sad love stories of tragic, star-crossed lovers who knew they could never be together for one reason or another. I watched old sphere recordings I had made, along the pilgrimage or at Home with the Al Bhed. I watched as my family and friends and I ran around Home, laughing and shouting at each other. A younger version of Brother tagged me, shouting "Oui'ne ed!"

My voice, younger by about two or three years was heard shouting back, "Hu vyen! E lyh'd dyk baubma! E ryja y cbrana!"

"Cu dinh ed uvv!"

"Veha," my voice said grudgingly, and the sphere darkened.

I sat back and clicked off the sphere. Placing it down next to the bed, I lay down, staring at the ceiling and thinking of Home. I thought of all the Al Bhed who had been lost when the Guado attacked. I remembered all the friends I hadn't seen in almost a year, the people who had been killed in the attack on Home. I thought about my old best friend, Eyhi, who had helped my get through all my break-ups with Al Bhed boys. Sure, there weren't many, but they had all seemed like the end of the world to me.

And now she was gone. Eyhi, the girl I had told all my secrets, the girl I had known everything about, was dead. I would never get to see her again.

I wondered what Eyhi would do if she were here now. Would she stand by me, my best friend and pillar of strength, or would she avoid me right now because she didn't know how I was feeling, because she had never been dumped by a girl? Would I even be in this mess? Alia had been my best friend before she was my girlfriend. But if Eyhi was my best friend… I wouldn't even have this problem.

I wished fervently that she was here right now. I needed her more than ever. I needed someone to talk to.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. "Go away," I said loudly.

There was a pause, then the knocking started again.

"Go away!" I shrieked, my voice at its breaking point.

"Rikku?" I frowned. Tidus. What did Tidus want?

"Tidus, go away. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

The door was opening. I stood and climbed onto my window seat, leaning my back against one of the side windows and pulling my knees to my chest. I turned my head away from the room and looked out the window. "Go away," I said again, though my voice was quieter and sounded slightly unsure. Well, I had wanted someone to talk to. Maybe this was a sign some superior being was giving me. Maybe I should let Tidus in.

It didn't matter; he was already in my room. He closed the door quietly behind him and walked over to me. "Rikku?"

"What?" I asked, not taking my eyes from the Besaid shoreline.

"Are you okay?"

I snorted slightly. "Do I look okay?"

"No, you don't."

"Then I'm not."

The blonde blitzer sat down in front of me. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly.

I looked up at him. He looked sincere enough. His eyes were full of concern, and his posture was one of a willing listener.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the tears that were rapidly returning to them. "Me and Alia had a fight." I whispered. Tidus knew Alia; He'd met her the day before the ball, when we were going dress-shopping in Luca.

He tilted his head. "So? I mean, if she's really your best friend, she'll forgive and forget, right? I mean, it's not like she was your girlfriend or anything."

I gave him a hopeless, teary-eyed look that spoke for itself.

Tidus seemed to get its message, because he sat back, murmuring a quiet "oh."

I squeezed my eyes shut again, resting my head on my knees. Despite my efforts to stop them, the tears still fell from the corners of my eyes, sliding down my face. I was all too aware of Tidus's presence, and I knew that he knew I was crying. I didn't like to cry in front of people, and I felt my cheeks flush slightly with embarrassment.

Then Tidus did the one of the last things I expected him to: he hugged me. It felt… weird. Not weird bad, like when you're hugged by someone you didn't know well, or someone you have a crush on. Weird in a way I hadn't felt for years. It felt like it had whenever Vydran or Brother hugged me. Like I was being hugged by a close family member.

My embarrassment fled. How many times had Brother comforted me when I was crying? I hugged Tidus back and lay my head on his shoulder, allowing the tears to fall. It was different, crying when someone's arms were around you and crying when you were huddled up in a ball in the corner of your bedroom. I felt safe then. It felt like coming home, soaking wet and cold after getting caught in a storm, and seeing a blazing fire and a cup of hot tea waiting for you. But best of all, it felt like I had finally found my true family.

After a few moments, my tears stopped, and I let go of Tidus. He smiled reassuringly, and I offered a watery smile back. "Thanks," I whispered. Though my voice was very, very quiet, I knew Tidus had heard me.

His smiled widened. "A friend in need is a friend indeed," he said, quoting me.

The boy's eyes grew mischievous. "Hey, Rikku. I want to tell you something: I think it might cheer you up a little. If it doesn't, you can punch me."

I snorted slightly, wiping the last remains of tears from my eyes and face. "I'd punch you even if you hadn't told me I could." I leaned forward with the look of a child who was about to hear something she wasn't supposed to. "What is it?"

*-.-*

Woo, cliffhanger! What's Tidus going to tell Rikku? You'll have to wait and see ! ~.^

Anyways, my longest chapter yet. And, you know how I said the last one was my favorite? This is my new one. Cause Rikku just plain rocks.

::Looks down:: Jeebus, thirteen pages?! Goddess, I must be going crazy, because it didn't seem like that long when I was writing it…

Anyway, the next chapter will probably be short. In fact, this one is probably going to be the longest in the entire fic. Moo.

Oh, by the way, I stole Shad's whole "Midol" thing (In case you weren't using you trusty Al Bhed translator ::tisk!:: 'Setum' is Al Bhed for 'Midol'). Do you mind? Cause if you did, just say the word & I'll change it (I hate stealing other people's ideas .).

Sorry, also, if any of the kimono information if wrong. I got it from the wonderful doujiart.com, but it was kind of confusing, so I just did my best. (Edit in the retelling: The school I attend now houses The Center for Global Studies, and one of the things it offers is the Japanese program. I get a year of Japanese history, and as many years as I want of Japanese language and World Literature. Well, anyway, in history, every Friday we get what my teacher calls Culture Day, where she tells us about a certain aspect of Japanese culture, and we had a kimono Culture day a while ago, so I'm pretty sure all the kimono information is now relatively correct.)

I have nothing else to say, I don't think, except that you probably all know what Tidus's secret is. Damn. Oh well. Since I have nothing else to say, I'm gonna go re-read the story.

Moo,

~E.N.

(Edit due to rewriting: I had a P.S. statement here in the original, but I took it out, cause... yeah. Inappropriate .; )