Ok again, sea monkeys. I was not very happy about how this turned out. So I kind of tweaked it a bit. Nothing too big. I'm going to do that to some other chapters too.

Oh, Ikon? Grammer has never been my strong suit, so please feel free to pick apart anything that I write. Believe it or not, my grammer has improved exponentially from what it once was. Thank you, Mrs. Ellis, for teaching me what little my poor brain could hold onto! Ikon would never have been able to get through anything of mine without your wisdom. :)

Ok sea monkeys. Here we are, born to be kings… no that's theme music to Highlander. Bad tagg.

And to Rikku Swirls: yes, food is a very important part of the story. Thank you for noticing. gives a cookie

Let's see if Rikku gets her house….

I don't' own FFX-2, but if I did I would make all the world's population cookies. I love to bake, can you tell?

Chapter 19: Hunting for Paradise

Rikku and So Muja had been traveling all over Spira. They were traveling with Gippal, since his work demanded his presense at certain places. Actually, things could have gone great with out him there. His workers just seemed to think that he was the only thing that could get a certain job done in the right amount of time and in the right way. It seriously bothered Rikku that he worked himself into exhaustion because they 'needed' him in all these places. Several times she had to drag him away from what ever project he was working on. Literally, drag him; once Gippal started something, he wanted to finish it. There in lies the problem. He wanted to finish it, even though someone else could do it.

So it was just as well that she was with him. She made him eat and sleep and rest instead of working, working and more working. Gippal had promised her that if she ever found a house she actually liked, he would stay put and 'commute' with a comm sphere. He knew he could do it that way; he just liked to be hands on with his work.

Rikku much preferred his hands on her. She already had him agreeing with that sentiment, as anyone who ever tried to bother Gippal about work after she had dragged him away to bed. She had even gone so far as to pull a gun on one man that just had to interrupt a rather intense love-making session. She would never have actually shot the man, but no one dared to bother them after that. No one bothered them in the mornings either, though it was not because she pulled out a weapon. Gippal was notoriously grumpy when he woke up. He would never grump at Rikku, but anyone else was fair game. Especially if he was disturbed from a sound sleep, which he got now that Rikku was snuggled next to him at night. Having an angry Gippal threaten you with being hung from your feet on one of the lightning towers in the Thunder Plains is not what you want first thing in the morning.

So they had traveled all over, and Rikku could not find a house that said 'home' to her. So Muja disdained most the the places they went to look at. She would take one look and turn her tiny nose into the air. The cat would live in a tent and travel everywhere with Rikku, but never liked any place that could be a permanent home. Rikku really did try to like some of the places. They were beautiful, but something kept telling her 'no' about all of them. She had no love for Bevelle, so that place was out right off the bat. Besaid was just too far from where she wanted to be. Having beach front property is great, but not for her. Kilika did not have the life that she craved within its wooden piers and houses. The only place she really liked was Luca.

Gippal had been patient, letting her drag him about to look with her. He was not too fond of any houses they had seen either. Rikku suggested going back to Luca. This surprised Gippal, but by now he was used to the resiliency of her soul. Nothing could keep Rikku down for very long. Not even psychotic-Mardoc-possessed-desk-clerks could get her down. In fact, he found that nothing of consequence bothered Rikku. Inconsequencial things now, that is another thing entirely. For example, one could trip and fall over her, causing multiple bruises to her small frame, and she would laugh it off. Drag you feet across a rug and crate a few mountains and valleys, the world came to an end. Rikku got upset with Yuna for doing that. Rikku never got upset with Yuna over anything. Gippal made a mental note not to put too many rugs on the floors of her house. He would have a constant headache from being smacked all the time.

They were ambling down the streets of Luca, Rikku holding her kitten in one hand and Gippal's hand in the other. He, of course, was carrying her bag along with his own in accordance with rule number forty-three. They were headed to the Sun Rose. There really was no place like it in all of Spira. Such a shame it was not for sale.

Lack of a wonderful house was getting Rikku a bit miffed. She really did love Luca though. If only there was a house here that she liked. Rather, a house here that she liked that was for sale. Even in one of the new sections of the city that were being carved out of the wilderness next to the Highroad. They were pretty enough, with lawns (a new idea to Lucan natives) and gardens. There was a small problem with fiends, but there were regular patrols by guards to anhiliate them. The only problem for Rikku was that she did not want the possibility of having to fight fiends before she got to play in her garden or lie in the sun on the grass.

Elizza greeted them estatically when they arrived at the inn. Both of them were enveloped in hugs and ushered inside. The smell of a pie baking permeated the air. Gippal took their bags up to their room while Rikku went to investigate the pie.

So Muja was happily bounding about the kitchen, rejoicing at being back in the Sun Rose. Rikku was munching on an apple, watching the little cat play. She and Elizza were chatting about this and that; catching up with the recent developments in each other's lives. For some reason Elizza was talking about one of the older residents of the city that had passed away. The woman had owned a substantial townhouse but had never kept it in good repair. She had not lived inside it for many years. The outside was fine, but the inside had not been touched in years and was in dire need of renovation. The structure was sound, only it needed to be gutted to add in some modern amenities. Now that she was gone, the city had put it up for sale.

"It was such a pretty place. Old Reemil used to let us have cookies and milk in her kitchen. Such a shame it's going to go to waste."

"Where is it, Elizza?" Rikku piped up.

"Only three streets down from here on the left. You can't miss it, it has some lovely bay windows in the front."

"Come on! Let's go look!" Rikku jumped up from her chair, and promptly choked on a bite of apple. After recovering, she grabbed Gippal's arm and started to pull him out the door. Having arrived in the kitchen expecting to be fed, he was not happy to be dragged outside again on an empty stomach.

"Hey! Maybe I'm hungry. I like to eat too, you know."

"We can eat later!" She rounded on him, pulling out her best pout. "Can't we just look, really fast? Please?"

"Fine. A quick look. I'm starving, and why you're not I'll never know. You get to eat whenever you want to, but I get to eat only when the chance is given to me."

"If you're going to be a grump about it, then I'll go with So Muja. Come on kitty! We're going to leave the Grump here so that he can by grumpy by himself while we go look at that townhouse."

"Like hell you're going alone into some old abandoned house. Can't I at least get a sandwich or something?"

Elizza solved the agrument by handing them each a huge sandwich to eat on the go. So Muja elected to go with them and rode on Rikku's shoulder. Rikku took special care not to jar her pet from her perch. Eating and walking was not an easy thing to do with a cat on ones shoulder. It was nearly as difficult as soggy-cookie eating. Just as the last bite was taken, they found the townhouse.

"Look at those windows! Oh, let's go inside!"

She was already running to the building, looking to see if there was a legal way inside. She could have just picked the lock, but it went against the 'I'm a good, law abiding citizen' thing. Fortunately there was a realestate man inside, taking notes and other such nonsense. He graciously let them inside to look around.

The windows really were spectacular. What was once a living room had huge windows that were large enough to walk through. Bay widows sat atop these, decrepit draperies hanging from what was left of curtain rods. The walls were discolored and some of the paint was peeling from certain places. It looked like a bad case of sunburn. Some of the walls appeared to be disembowled, their insides ripped out and the guts spilling onto the floor. Dust motes were dancing in the sunlight that leaked in through the windows despite the aging curtains. Most other townhouses were half the size of this one. Old places like these were rare and feverishly sought after.

Hardwood floors and rich wood paneling added a sort of warmth beneath the think layer of dust. Sliding doors sat half open, revealing more rooms and a stair case made its way up to the next floor from the foyer. A kitchen the size of the one in the Sun Rose made Rikku squeal in delight. She and the cat had already made a round of the ground floor and were exploring the upper levels now.

Gippal looked down at the dusty floor and found that Rikku prints and So Muja prints were all over the place, doubling back and meandering everywhere. Rikku never dragged her feet or scuffed her shoes, it seemed. It was no wonder she got upset about a messed up rug. The paw prints were as dainty as paw prints could be. The kitten did not like to get her lovely coat dirty. For some reason, this was amusing to Gippal. His amusment was interrupted by Rikku bounding down the stairs with So Muja in tow.

"The attic is a greenhouse! And there are four bedrooms and all of them have huge windows like downstairs, and the master bedroom! It's gigantic! With a garden tub and …oh I love this place. Can we get it? Please?" Rikku gave him the puppy-dog eyes. He could not resist those. She knew that he could not resist them. Even So Muja was looking at him expectantly, only with kitten eyes instead of puddy-dog ones.

"You sure? It'll take a while to fix this place up. There's all the electrical wiring, got to tear down some chunks of wall for that. I don't think this place'll mind much. Heating and air conditioning ducts (let us pretend that these are new things that have just begun to be applied within the realm of Spira.), that'll take out some of the ceiling, th-"

"I don't care! I'll do it all if I have to."

"Hell yeah I like it. I'm just warning you that it won't be instant gratification. You'll have to wait. You do know what waiting is, don't you, Cid's girl?"

"I can wait. I waited to get you. I can wait. Please?"

"It's yours, honey-lips." Gippal received an estatic kiss and then found Rikku had bounced away to look around some more. He rubbed the back of his head, staring after her. An old house that was going to take months to fix up just made her day. Not to mention it was going to cost him a fortune to get it habitable again. He could not complain too much about spending money. Rikku never asked him for anything but his company. That was odd considering how he generally went out of his way to annoy the ever living hell out of her.

With a sigh, Gippal went in search of the realestate man to make sure Rikku got her house.

Sooo…I'm unable to make a jump into the next chapter at this time, so it may take a while to find an update. This one took long enough to make. My muse went into overtime today and filled my head with all kinds of lovely and interesting things to write about. So it may not be that long of a wait for an update, but my cookies demand my attention for the next few days.

Anywho, give a review and get one of my famous cookies! sets plate out that has all manner of yummy-ness on it

Thank you bunches for reading!

tagg