Disclaimer: All characters and places are property of Square, not me!

Chapter 2

A Shocking Memory

"Brother! Rinno ib un fa'mm hajan syga ed! Oui duu Gippal!" The three young children ran through the sands of Bikanel. Rikku was in the lead, her five-year-old legs flying behind her as she dashed through the hot sand, Brother and Gippal hot on her heels.

"Crid ib!" Brother shouted in a pair of shorts. Gippal was a couple strides ahead in swimming trucks. The three had been granted this day to play at the oasis. Rikku reached it first and put a toe in cautiously. She squealed and backed away, giggling hysterically.

"Rinno ib!" Gippal pushed her into the water and Rikku was submerged for a moment. She came up sputtering and glared at Gippal, who only laughed. "Rao, Cid's Girl, oui dnebbat." Apparently, he and Brother found this quite funny as both started laughing. Rikku grinned and took her soaked hair down from its pigtails. This accomplished, she shook herself, getting them both wet. They yelped, looking at her in surprise. She grinned and laughed.

Brother and Gippal looked at each other in silent agreement. Running into the water of the Oasis, they splashed her mercilessly. She tried to retaliate, but they were too powerful. For two hours, they swam and sun-bathed, switching off between the two activities as they deemed fit. Brother seemed to get awful touchy, however, when he saw Gippal staring at Rikku wet in her yellow bikini. Let's face it, even at a tender age she was nice looking, especially to the quickly maturing Gippal.

It was almost time for lunch when Rikku's life was altered forever. A Mushussu fiend was creeping up on the children, looking for its midday meal. Gippal stood closest, back to the creeping monster. Brother was farthest and facing it, but due to his head being pushed into the sand by Rikku, he could see nothing. Rikku, in her attempt to escape from Brother's flailing arms, was a foot or so in front of Gippal. Laughter was incessant and smiles common.

A huge roar came from behind them, however, followed by a shriek of pain. Brother (freeing himself from the sand) and Rikku looked in horror as the Mushussu swiped out with its claws, digging into Gippal's right eye.

"Rikku, E lyh payd ed. Fydlr drec!" Brother stood and called out in his strongest voice, "Thunder!" The fiend backed away, but the spell missed it entirely. Instead, the shrill scream of a small child was heard, alerting the adults at a nearby camp…

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The girl's cries of terror were unheard through the noise of machina. Only one woman heard them, bolting up and tearing off her goggles. "Rikku!" She ran immediately to the oasis, pulling out twin red daggers. She was almost out of sight when her husband noticed her absence and looked around. Seeing her going towards the oasis with weapons bared, Cid followed her.

"Kaha!" Cid called, chasing after the mother. Kaha arrived and slew the fiend, never removing her body from between it and the three children. Cid arrived only after the fact. Three men were behind him, all shouting at each other in Al Bhed, calling for paramedics and potions.

Kaha ran to her baby girl, cuddling her close as tears fell from her young, green eyes. She wasn't too badly injured, but she was frightened and scared, a good candidate for shock. Kaha muttered soothing words to her daughter, picking her up as she stood.

"Mother!" Rikku exclaimed suddenly. She was beginning to develop the Spiran language and would use it occasionally, at the oddest of times really. Oddly, she usually addressed her parents in that language. "Gippal! Mother!" Kaha looked over and saw Gippal's father lifting his son's body onto a stretcher.

"Shhh," Kaha held Rikku even closer as a certain little boy approached, looking very guilty and sorry. He explained what had happened and his mother smiled. Handing Rikku over to her father, the woman bent down to comfort her son. Soon, Cid and Kaha were escorting both their children to Home once more, promising to visit the wounded Gippal as soon as they could.

Oddly enough, that same night, a thunderstorm raged over the desert. Rikku, who had never before been disturbed, came into her parents' room in hysterical tears. With no other option available, the adults allowed Rikku to sandwich between them for a restful night's sleep.

It seems not everything changes in a decade…

Okay, now for the Al-Bhed translations...

"Brother, hurry up or we'll never make it! You too Gippal!"

"Shut up!"

"Hurry up!"

"Hey, Cid's Girl, you tripped."

"Rikku, I can beat it. Watch this!"

Okay, R&R! My quickest update ever, wow.