A/N: Chapter two dedicated to Becky as she could be bothered to review! –hugs her to death- OOH! And Rachel, who is TRYING to read it! (Not saying she's illiterate in any way, shape, or form... STOP GLARING AT ME!) Well, this chapter does have a wee cliff-hanger, albeit an obvious one. I hope you guys like! Ah, the Disclaimer... AGAIN... I don't own Final Fantasy X-2, Square-Enix does, lucky... -mumbles angrily- Neither does Rachel, who is a real person and TOTALLY not a figment of my imagination! What? It's true! -giggles-
"…" speech
-italics- thought
Chapter Two: A Bombshell for Blondes
The next thing I knew Yuna was looking at me in that overprotective mother hen way that makes me think that she really is getting old.
"Mana depravation! Rikku! What were you thinking?" Her voice was shrill and piercing as she bombarded me with reprimands.
"Eh-heh-heh? Yunie, do me a favour and lower the volume just a tad, pretty please?" I whined, turning on the puppy dog eyes that no one alive can disappoint.
"Spells aren't supposed to be that concentrated! You know full well how dangerous that could have been; if Paine hadn't come and gotten me you could have died!" She hissed, only marginally quieter. She's a hard lady; I suppose you'd have to be, to defeat Sin and all.
"Yunie, I know it was stupid to drain myself, but it was my fault I concussed him in the first place." I whined, jutting out my lower lip and adopting a petulant frown. Yuna was having none of it, and I had to wonder if Pops had broken the news of his latest scheme, starring yours truly, and she needed someone to take it out on…
"No Rikku, it won't work like that! Don't you understand that if you want to protect the people you care about you can start by protecting yourself?" She asked, finally allowing the fear to permeate the ire in her eyes.
"Huh?" I asked eloquently. She came and sat down with me on the foreign bed I was in, taking my hand as she perched on the mattress.
"You just rush in; you don't have any concern for your own safety, only ours. While I'm honoured by your sentiment, each time I watch you fight I worry. You need us and we want to help you, but you're too stubborn to let us!" She said, rather harshly. As if acknowledging this she apologised with her eyes and wrapped an arm around my shoulders."You can't take the world on by yourself, Rikku; you can't do that and win." I embraced my cousin and held her tight as she let out her fear on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Yunie. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you felt like this, I've been acting like a little kid, all this time." I mumbled, almost in disbelief. "Of course you can help me, there's no one else I'd rather have watching my back." I said softly, slowly stroking Yuna's back.
"Promise?" She hiccupped. I smiled and hugged her tighter.
"I promise. You, me and Dr. P are a team, the greatest sphere hunters in all of Spira!" I crowed, grinning harder when Yunie laughed.
"Don't let Brother hear you say that." She giggled. I rolled my eyes at the suggestion before adopting an oafish pose.
"I am the leader! Do as I say! We will do exactly what Yuna tells us to, but you shall believe it was my decision!" I bellowed in Brother's heavy accent. Yunie dissolved into a fit of laughter and I watched as Paine strode through the doorway, sword in hand and a murderous look in her eyes. This was quickly replaced by confusion and she shook her head, silvery grey strands whipping round her face.
"I could have sworn that that good-for-nothing brother of yours had gotten in here. I think I need a lie down…" She delivered in an almost puzzled monotone before turning round and leaving as abruptly as she entered. Yunie proceeded to laugh harder until her shoulders shook. My eyes were screwed shut tight and I was wheezing in between giggles. Paine appeared in the doorway again, looking more stunned than she was before. "You're awake?" She asked me. I thought this question was rather redundant, but I was too busy laughing to point this out. Paine muttered something about me being mental and left again, now commenting on how she needed to take a break. From what, I do not know…
After we'd eventually calmed down enough to breathe normally again, after a few false starts on both our parts I allowed Yunie to help me off the bed.
"Am I forgiven for being a selfish meanie?" I asked, scraping the toe of my boot on the marble floor tiles and shifting awkwardly. I guessed that no one had been bothered to dress my like an invalid and pouted, my skirt would be creased something awful…
"Rikku, you know I find it harder to stay mad at a kitten than you." She said, muttering something about how vexing my ability to play her like a fiddle was. "Of course you're forgiven." I squealed and hugged her, regretted it instantly because the world started spinning and then cursed the magic drain like a sailor.
Mana depravation is like a really evil hangover. It's the only thing I've been able to compare it to so far and for most counts it's been pretty apt. Not saying I do this often… Eh-heh?
"Methinks I need some head-unhurting-thingy…" I mumbled forlornly, pinching the bridge of my nose. Yunie turned back into concerned mother hen and ushered me back to the bed.
"You lie down while I get you an ether, ok?" She asked, smoothing my hair back as she forced me horizontal. Has she been working out or am I that decrepit all of a sudden?
"Yunie, I can get it myself…" I whined feebly, but she cut off my protests with a stern look and waltzed out of the door.
As soon as it shut firmly behind her, I rose from the bed torpidly, wincing as a lightning bolt of pain sparked the length of my right eyebrow and pressure built at the base of my skull. I shirked off all pain and almost all dizziness and fumbled with the doorknob. I absentmindedly brushed stray bangs out of my eyes with the hand free from my epic battle, eventually having to settle for puffing small gusts of air to get them out of my vision as the world continued to sway like I was on a small bark in a tsunami. They fell back into place obstinately, fractions of a second later, of course, seeing as door opening wasn't already hard enough, before I was triumphantly stumbling into the atrium of the temple. I suppose I must have been put up in one of the side rooms. Well, I was just going to show Yunie that I could find the medicine all by my bitty lonesome, so she could get off my case and we could leave. After finding out I was still in an area with Pops and Gippal close at hand, leaving had become my top priority.
Unfortunately my escape was balancing on a knife edge, seeing as any of the workers could alert Gippal to my presence in mere moments and, from the way they were all staring at me, I wasn't all that inconspicuous either. I heard heavy boots on the marble and the hairs at the back of my neck prickled in anticipation. I continued to drunkenly stagger to my light at the end of the tunnel, hoping nobody would comment.
"Hey! People! I don't pay you to sit around, gawping at… half naked chicks?" I felt his eye on my back and resisted the urge to look down. I knew if I did I'd hunt Yunie down and wouldn't be held responsible for my actions. "Loyal workers, I forgive you, the sight in front of you is damn distracting. However, I think we need to have a talk about informing your leader beforehand about the hot, scantily clad, runaway super models in the temple, ok?" My face started to flame at the whole, being ogled at thing, until my lips curved up in a wicked smile. Knowing Gippal, even if he did find me attractive he'd never tell me, meaning he had no idea who I was! I was FREE! I continued to leave, head held high and hips sashaying as I lurched my way to the exit. Then a hand clapped down on my shoulder and the dream died.
I flinched before bracing myself for the mocking, tipping my head down and screwing my eyes shut. Then I opened them again when my state of undress was burned under my eyelids. I was in my Thief dress-sphere, just without my scarf, cool swishy arm things and, most importantly, my skirt. I'd just strolled out in front of a bunch of men in a bikini top and thong! Thong! If possible, I blushed even redder and resisted the growing urge to strangle Yunie to death with said thong. "What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?" He asked, and even through my fear I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the clichéd chat-up line. I felt his warm breath in my ear and his callused hand on my shoulder, grip tightening as he prepared to spin me around to face him. Trembling slightly, I again tried to slowly walk away. "Oh no you don't," I was pirouetted round, teeth grit, face scarlet, eyes wide and very underdressed and did the only thing I could: I waved; "Cid's Girl?" He screeched, retracting his hand like he'd been burned and almost falling down in the process. I offered him a nervous giggle, which was almost a perpetual problem whenever Gippal was around. Then, realising that this would definitely NOT salvage my dignity, I glowered at him and jabbed him in the chest with my trusty index pointing finger.
"I DO have a name, you know!" I cried indignantly. He seemed even more taken aback by my sudden mood swing and just continued to stare. "Come on Gippal, it's not too taxing! Say it with me now: Rikku… Don't be shy: Rikku…" I said, with as much condescension as I dared. His vision unclouded and he smirked.
"Cid's… Girl…" He drawled, drawing out every letter. My hands closed into fists and I growled softly. "Awwww… do you purr if I stroke you?" He asked, eye sparkling with mirth. Subconsciously I struggled to cover every single bare expanse of skin with my hands and I made a small sound. I think it was an: Eep… "I'll take that as a 'no' then. It's a shame…" He said, ruffling my hair. I jerked my head away, almost slapping him with the long, loose strands.
"Don't… touch me…" I ground out.
"Sorry Cid's Girl!" He exclaimed worriedly, acting as if he was actually sorry. This worried me… "I won't do it again, now that I know how you can't resist me!" He laughed and I saw red. Again I tackled him to the floor, straddling his thighs as I got ready to break his nose again. If anything his smirk got wider. "See what I mean? I'm sorry though, Rikku…" If I wasn't so caught on the fact that he'd actually said my name I would have noticed the malicious glint in his eye. I smiled dreamily instead, ecstatic that the most vexing man alive had finally succumbed to my greatness and treated me with some damned respect. "Your father will be here any minute now so we can't give in to these urges, but, it would be one hell of a way to go, eh?" He grinned up at me and waggled his eyebrows and I was off him so fast I almost blinked and missed it. I started to point at him and gibber inanely and incoherently, unable to comprehend the thought of… THAT… with Gippal! Gippal of all people! Gippal! He flashed me a beatific smile and fluttered his eyelashes. "Awwww… you care about little old me!" He gushed. I ran back to the room I had recently left, hands thrown wantonly in the air and screaming. "Your stuff's on my bedside table! I'll catch up with you here!" He called after my retreating form. I slammed the door and then began to process the information.
HIS room meant HIS bed, meaning I slept in HIS bed, where HE sleeps… I resumed my shrieking, adding intermittent comments of 'Gippal germs'. I started to shriek louder when I saw Pops was sitting on the bed. Opening the door, barrelling a concerned Yunie out of the way, stopping momentarily to catch the bottle of ether out of the air, I ran like a bat out of hell, with all manners of scary beasts from the inferno chasing me, again knocking Gippal to the ground in the process, out of Djose Temple, across the highroad, paying no heed to the confused wannabe diggers staring at me, until I'd safely reached the bridge of the Celsius. Looking around me, wild eyed, I dived for cover under Shinra's work surface and put a finger to my lips.
"I'm not here, ok?" I asked desperately. Shinra gave me a derisive glare and shrugged.
"I'm just a kid…" I nodded gratefully and proceeded to rock back and forth, biding my time until this nightmare blew over.
I was bored less than two minutes later, so I took the stopper out of the ridiculously intricate frosted glass bottle, glancing at the sticky liquid in the indigo container with nothing short of utter disgust. I crinkled my nose in displeasure and sighed, taking a small sip. My immediate reaction was to gag and make a strangled sound, grimacing horribly as my tongue tried to force itself out of my mouth. Pop's cooking was better than this! Which really was saying something, let me tell you!
The only things my Pops was actually good at included the vast list of machina, making an ass out of himself and Sand Storms. No, father dearest could not conjure up the wrath of Mother Nature; he could make a mean cocktail. Of his own invention, created when he was at the stage of inebriated hangover which meant drinking more would help him feel better. Yeah, drinking doesn't help his social skills either so Yevon knows why he spends so much time devoted to the cause. He'd grabbed all the alcohol and random sugar related products that our dysfunctional family possessed and threw them all together. The drink definitely lives up to its namesake, there's an 87.8 chance that you'll be on the floor and unable to see after you've finished the first one alone. Plus it looks like sludge. Also, with all the sugar and caffeine in it, there're warnings for diabetic comas and epileptic fits, even if you're not a previous sufferer…
So, referring back to daddy's cooking skills, which are non-existent by the way, a simple, brutally honest explanation would be that he could burn water without having to try too hard. So this ether tasted pretty damn bad, praise be to Shiva for my cast iron stomach or I would have puked on Shinra's galoshes. Pinching my nose and trying unsuccessfully to keep my tongue well out of the way of the foul concoction, I knocked it back in one long, pained swallow and then did a repeat performance of gagging and wheezing pathetically. Shinra didn't deem me worthy of attention, which would have hurt more if he hadn't have been doing exactly what I told him to.
In the distance I heard Yunie's voice, echoing around the airship with a tinny quality, having adopted it from the excess of metal surrounding her. I sat stock still, obstinately refusing to contort my facial muscles in disgust at the aftertaste that would not go away. Eventually, her voice got more distant until she was out of earshot, probably now checking the cabin and engine room. Hopefully she'd bypass the bridge, for even though I trust Shinra implicitly, everyone in the world finds it hard to lie to Yunie. Well, anyone with an iota of decency in them. Either that or Buddy would rat me out, I hadn't actually checked to see if him or Brother were there. Which I probably should have done, in all semblance of hindsight. I heard the soft clanks of Yunie's boots on the walkway and the metallic clicks of Paine's heels as they arrived at the bridge.
"Brother! Have you seen Rikku anywhere?" Yunie asked in that vulnerable tone we all knew he couldn't resist.
"She is acting very strangely, yes?" He asked. Ugh, his accent was driving even me crazy, and I could empathise! However, I didn't sound like a Communist from the olden days.
"Well, stranger than usual." Paine said with a snort. I resisted the urge to cry out and call her a meany, when Brother damned me instead.
"Well, yes, she hides under Shinra!" He exclaimed. Great, now I sounded crazy, guilty and paedophilic. What a wonderful world we live in, where males are allowed to breathe…
Paine hefted me out easily, what with the height, weight and muscletone advantage she held over me, quirking a defined silver eyebrow in amused askance before setting me down on the floor. Yunie gave me a reproachful look.
"I'm sorry! I just wanted to show you that I wasn't an invalid! Then, then," I shuddered at becoming the target of Gippal's technique. "Oh Yevon it was horrible, I felt like a piece of meat!" I spat indignantly. Realisation dawned for all. Brother was striding purposefully towards the elevator, cursing in Al Bhed as he went, Yunie and Paine were exchanging heated glares at the thought of the chauvinistic pig and Buddy had decided to be Brother's backup. Shinra continued to work on his invention, not being at an age to understand boy girl interaction. "No! It was my fault! I thought I was still in my White Mage outfit! I didn't knowingly, but I still pranced out there in a thong!" I wailed, face again an interesting shade of vermillion which I tried to hide with my loose flaxen tresses. This seemed to piss Brother off more, but Yunie and Paine gave me a long, stern look, before dissolving into laughter. "Hey! It's not funny! I have no dignity at all now!" I moaned, railing at the injustice of the world.
"You had dignity?" Paine looked up to ask. I shot her a withering glare and pouted.
"Possibly… Well, probably not, what with all of my klutz attacks, but we're allowed a few delusions!" I wailed. Paine simply rolled her ruby eyes at me as Yunie hid a snicker behind her hand. "So, can we leave now?" I asked feebly. Paine seemed inclined to agree with me for once, but Yunie interrupted.
"Not until we go see Uncle Cid, he's got major news." She said, torn between amusement and horror. She knew…
"You know!" I cried indignantly. "Tell me! You have to!" I begged, crawling forward on my knees and grabbing her legs pitifully.
"I know nothing of the kind!" She said, meaning completely the opposite.
"Yunie, you have the worst poker face in the world, what makes you think you can trick your own cousin?" I asked, trying not to smirk. It was Yunie's turn to blush and she mumbled incoherently for a while. Her face suddenly lit up like she had the answer, but I was troubled at her evil grin.
"Well, you know it involves Gippal and yourself, right?" She drawled. I nodded slowly, arms still entwined in her legs. I released her and she started to pace like some hotshot lawyer that knows they've won. "And if I'm correct, that shouting is coming from Brother, and it's getting closer. If I'm correct, Gippal and Cid will be with him and Buddy. I may have a poor poker face, but I'm holding all the cards and you have approximately ten seconds to get them off me." She concluded with a grin and a wink. My jaw dropped like a stone. When did Yunie of all people become devious? I glared at Paine.
"Paine!" I screeched, "You broke Yunie!" Paine decided to answer by laughing as Yunie doubled up and I tried to hide under Shinra again. Concluding that that would only make me look more pathetic in the long run, I stood tall and straight, a ways from anyone so it was clear I had no moral support. I would have looked brave and confident, if my legs weren't trembling so badly. I'd started to bounce on the balls of my feet and chew my bottom lip, both sure fire signs that I was on the road to a nervous breakdown. Then Gippal leapt down from the walkway and I went: "Eep!" Again…
He strolled right up to me, tossing me a cocky grin, possibly as a reward for me not turning tail and running, who knows?
"Cid's Girl." He said, tipping his head in greeting. I continued to stand there, trembling and silent. I guessed I was supposed to continue this sham of a conversation until Pops came to tell me the bad news.
"Your face ok?" I asked shyly, staring at my feet and blushing. I still felt guilty for that, plus I was still in my underwear and the end of the world was around the corner, so I was allowed to be a teensy bit out of character!
"Yup! Good as new! Well… almost…" He said, gesturing to his eye patch.
"Good, I'm glad you don't have to spend the rest of your life masquerading as a waffle iron." I muttered distractedly. I heard Paine chuckle and felt the air move as Gippal turned to shoot a glare at her. "I'm really sorry I did it in the first place though… I didn't really have a good excuse." I muttered.
"Meh… it's not like I didn't deserve it, I'm just grateful you didn't hurt me worse! Who'd have thought Cid's Girl would have such an arm on her?" He asked jovially. Gippal just admitted fault and showed gratitude… all in one sentence. I looked out of the windscreen for flying pigs before slapping myself on the forehead for being so weird. Now I looked more psychotic than weird, great… I giggled nervously to break the awkward silence.
"No one deserves to be hit…" I said softly, resuming my habitual lip gnawing.
"Yeah, well, morality's never been awarded to us, so it's not unexpected that we return the favour. Plus, Cid's Girl, nothing hurts quite like your mouth." He said, grinning. My head snapped up and I met his gaze, pouting.
"Yup, all us Al Bhed got was hypocrisy, which I see you've also gotten pretty darn good at!" I chirped, sticking my tongue out for extra effect. Gippal clutched at his heart and mock groaned in agony.
"You wound me Cid's Girl!" He cried.
"Simmer down children, playtime's over." Paine called out to us. I turned to see Cid plodding down the steps, looking half pleased and half nervous as hell. He looked around at the group and cleared his throat loudly.
"Well, you know what I've called you all here for." He began.
"Uh, Pops, no? All I know is that this plan of yours is gonna be hella stupid and I'll have to Petrify Grenade you and then we'll drop you off back at Bikanel!" I stated perkily, adding hand gestures for emphasis. I think I looked a bit like a windmill…
"With the exception of my daughter, who cannot keep her mouth closed and will be doing nothing of the kind; we know why we're here. As you know I'm getting on…" He said, trying to milk some sympathy out of me, which wasn't going to happen. "And I have to select my successor." His elucidation wasn't really relieving the sense of foreboding in the back of my mind. "It was an obvious decision to make, due to Gippal's unchallenged skills and his awe-inspiring experience for one so young." He said. I'd been expecting this, but it still pissed me off that I'd be ex-princess and he'd be the big cheese, if solely for the consequence of his ego. "You also know, that, when possible, to help relations between the people as well as for reasons of tradition, that an alliance is forged between the old and the new." He stated.
The cogs in my mind began to turn. Did this mean I had to be Gippal's friend? Because if so, spare me.
"As one of my last acts as Chief, I announce the betrothal of my only daughter, Rikku, to my successor, Gippal!" He cried feebly.
I blinked.
Then I turned to look at my father.
Betrothal as in to betroth?
A/N: I've just returned from NYC after a six hour delay at JFK airport, and I'm jetlagged, tired, yet still strangely exuberant... I dunno whether it's cos I got a new reviewer or cos I got Prada shoes... -squeals- It's a little from column A, a little from column B...
I've also decided to make the rating more child-friendly, because I realised heavy swearing wasn't exactly gonna win me a Pullitzer. There will be some violence, but it will be to the monsters, who I consider too fugly to live anyway; and if Square-Enix can get away with killing things under an 11+ rating, then, by Jove, so can I!
Updates coming soon!