Lost Promise
Chapter 2
By: okapiangel
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Author's Note: I swear I'm alive! Just busy. This update isn't everything I wanted to put down, its actually only about half of it. But I think it explains a bit more about what's going on in everyone's lives. Its still setup, I'm sorry. Next chapter is delving more into the story, but no promises on how soon I can get it up. Hope you enjoy!
"Rikku, you need to come here right away. Home's been destroyed."
Ever notice how when you're not expecting things to happen, life really lets you have it? I mean, POW, right in the kisser! Life enjoys blindsiding me with things like that – nothing is ever what I thought it would be. And nothing EVER ends the way I thought it would. For example, five years ago I was fifteen and living every Al Bhed's fantasy when I was working on that salvage ship. Becoming my cousin's guardian, debunking a major religion, defeating Sin and helping save Spira certainly was not on my list to things "To Do." I was perfectly content excavating machina from the ocean floor and uncovering secrets of a past long forgotten by the rest of the world. Seriously, what more could a girl ask for? How was I supposed to know that the gorgeous stranger we rescued from Baaj Temple was a key player in a puzzle much bigger than any of us anticipated?
But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. No, I'm not big on hokey religions – but of a much larger order of the universe. Destiny controls all our paths, and all we can do is hope to keep up. Looking back on the last five years, I realized that my turning point occurred on the day Sin attacked the salvage ship. It wasn't a random attack – I'm sure Sin, Jecht, knew that his son was on the ship with us. He wanted his son to end up in Besaid, because I'm sure he knew that Yuna was going to become a guardian. And I'm sure he knew that his son would be the one to destroy him.
Hindsight is such a remarkable thing. It really allows people to see the reasons for the crap life throws at them. I mean, if that hadn't happened then Yuna and Tidus wouldn't have gotten together, and the Al Bhed would still be the most hated people in Spira. Not that we haven't moved too much farther up on the list. It's just that most people hate other people just a little more than they hate us. It takes a long time to overcome centuries of distrust and dislike. I suppose that lots of people (Not me though – EVER) believe its Yevon watching out for them. It's like the whole pilgrimage never happened. Of course they recognize that Yuna destroyed Sin and brought the eternal calm, but the whole bit about Yevon being a whacked out religion they choose to ignore. Not that I ever held any stock in that religion at all. They ignore the fact that Yevon was really just an over powerful, corrupted summoner who still thought that there was a war going on with Bevelle. Sort of. That's my over simplified version of the whole thing. The other version is way too long and complicated and I really am tired of telling it to people.
But the whole point is that the world is safe for people now, even if they still insist on fighting over petty crap. Hmm… maybe Yunie should give another concert… It worked ok the last time she gave one. Of course, her channeling Lenne could have helped her concert's message a little bit. There's something about star-crossed lovers dying tragically that really speaks to people. Still, the world is safe, no one is trying to destroy the world, and the Al Bhed are all working together to get Home rebuilt.
Yeah right. The Al Bhed are at each other's throats over this whole Home issue. And now that its been destroyed, who knows what's going to happen. I admit it, I wasn't expecting Pops to drop a bomb like that, and my reaction wasn't the most brilliant thing I've ever said.
"Hunh? Again?" Boy, I was sounding like Brother. After we destroyed Vegnagun, Shinra showed us some sphere's he'd recorded during our trip. And I wasn't impressed with the way I acted. So over the last three years I've been working especially hard at growing up and becoming the kind of person that I've always envisioned myself becoming. Although I still burst out with the occasional, 'Poopie!' and right now was definitely a 'Poopie!' moment. But I regained my composure – after all, I am the older, more mature Rikku. I am, although unwillingly, the next in line to lead my people. And I was –
Supposedly, I was supposed to know where Pops was. I knew that, since Home was destroyed, he wasn't there. (See? That's called deductive reasoning, and is one of the many skills I've been perfecting recently.) "Pops? Where is 'here?'" Obviously my deductive reasoning needed to be honed. Looking back on it now, it was obvious where he was. See, even though Home was destroyed, and that alone would put Pops in a bad mood, it wouldn't make him look like he'd been constipated for a month. There were only two people who were capable of giving Pops that expression – and since I hadn't heard a peep out of Brother, that only left…
"Djose." Well… Poopie. I had been clinging to hope that he wasn't there. But no… Pops continued to scowl into the commsphere, "Damn Machine Faction pulled us all out of the storm before anyone could get hurt." Ouch. That had to hurt Pops' pride – I knew how much he'd hate to be rescued by, well anyone really, but especially by someone he hates. I remembered that time three years ago when Yunie, Paine and I saved Pops' butt in the Thunder Plains. He'd been a pain then, and I'm sure he was being a bigger pain now. But, I would be too. After all the grief the Machine Faction has put us through – I bit my lip in frustration.
"Pops, I can't go to Djose!" I could control this – after all, I was still Pops' little girl – even if I was twenty. "Why don't you guys tune me in via commsphere?" Apparently Pops didn't take to that idea too well. Not that I really blamed him, I'd kill someone if I had to be stuck in Djose by myself. So, it was time for plan B, "You guys can come to Besaid! We can meet here – I'm sure Yuna –"
"Yuna has dealt with enough of our problems. We're keeping this one strictly among ourselves." Well, crap. When Pops puts his foot down, there's really no arguing with him. But I wasn't going down without a fight – after all, Pops pales in comparison to both Sin and Vegnagun. "Luca! We can meet in Luca then – it'll take me less time to get to Luca, and we'll get there around the same time!" I scrunched up my face as I racked my brain for more reasons why we should meet in Luca – the scrunching's a nasty habit from when I was a child. "And… ummm… Uncle Rin! I'm sure he'd want to be at the meeting, and I'm positive he'd host it, especially seeing as he just lost one of his biggest clients in the storm. …Actually, two of his biggest clients – the Machine Faction had to bail too." I waited for Pops to shoot down my idea. I waited for the sigh that meant, 'Rikku, what am I going to do with you and how do you ever expect to be leader one day?' What I didn't expect was Pops nearly cracking a smile. See, the only time I've ever seen Pops smile after Mama died was when Yunie defeated Sin and managed to stay alive. So I'm pretty sure I did something impressive just then – I just don't know exactly what it was. But really, all I cared about was that I didn't have to drag my buns all the way to Djose. And hey – if Pops was willing to haul ourselves over to Luca just to argue about the future of the Al Bhed, it was fine with me. At least, when Pops began threatening to kill people Uncle Rin would be there to help me restrain him. Oh! Just to clarify, Rin's not technically my uncle, but he and Pops are super close, and I've been calling him my uncle since before I can remember. Of course, that's not really relevant, but I just thought someone might like to know.
"Right Pops, I'll meet you in Luca tomorrow." Boy, Uncle Rin was going to love us showing up on his doorstep without any warning. But hey – that's where I play up 'favorite niece' and everything blows over without too much trouble. I reached to disconnect the commsphere, and had nearly done so when I heard the one voice I'd been dreading. Things were about to get ugly, and I didn't want any part of it.
However, neutrality was not a luxury I was allowed.
"Is that her? When's she coming? We've got a lot to talk about before I let my guys get back to digging in the Sanubian."
Did he have to just assume I would run to Djose? Honestly, he really knew how to drive me completely nuts. But leave it to good old Pops to handle the situation with delicacy and diplomacy.
"Will you shut your pothole for one god dammed minute! She's refusing to come to Djose – not that I blame her! This is the last place I'd want to go either, but you didn't leave me with much choice did you! Just drag us away from Home and dump us in your damned temple!" I had to hand it to Pops; I was impressed with his level of control. But then of course, in their eternal game to one up each other, Gippal had to add his opinion. "Didn't give you a choice? Excuse me Cid – would you like us to dump you back in Spira's sandbox and ask if you'd rather escape on our airships or get squashed by the ton of sand that was hurling in your direction!"
I knew this wasn't going to end anytime soon, so I cleared my throat – loudly. It didn't do any good. So I shouted into the commsphere, "Luca! Tomorrow!" Then I disconnected the sphere, and left the room, grumbling as I pushed past a worried Tidus. Not that I meant to, I really didn't see him walking up as I was leaving. Fact is I was fighting a killer migraine caused by those two babies I'd just been talking to.
Maybe I should explain about Pops and Gippal. See, they've never exactly seen eye to eye, in fact ever since I could remember they've hated each other. When we were kids (Gippal, Brother and I – not Pops) Pops didn't like Gippal and Brother playing together because Gippal beat up Brother once or twice. Not that Brother didn't deserve it; he shouldn't have threatened to give Gippal a pounding if he couldn't back up his threats. Hell – Brother threatened to give me a pounding once and couldn't back that up either! Frankly I think Pops just over reacted because even though he and Brother aren't on the best terms (and really, I can't even think of a time when they have been) Gippal wounded his pride. Pops is really like a caged lion, ready to pounce at anything, and full of pride. And Gippal has constantly wounded his pride over the years.
Like the time one of Pops' Al Bhed council members caught me and Gippal in a broom closet in a rather, uh, compromising situation. To be fair, it wasn't exactly Gippal's fault – but did Pops listen? Does he ever? Granted I was the one who pulled Gippal in with me – it was meant as a joke! Don't even ask me what I was thinking; because I'm of the firm opinion that thirteen year old girls don't have brains. With all the giggles and hormones there's simply no room left. But that's the day I discovered that Gippal is slightly claustrophobic – a fact that few people know. He can work inside machina no problem; because he knows he can get back out. But when the door to the broom closet locked, he panicked. And while I was trying to comfort him, some old council member discovered us, marched us straight to Pops and told him he should control his daughter before she ruins his family name. As if I could ruin it! That's Brother's job.
But Pops' pride was injured and Gippal got the brunt of it. The weirdest part was he simply accepted it. Like Pops' opinion didn't matter to him anymore.
And when Pops was trying to decide how to handle the threat of Sin, he and Gippal bumped heads yet again. Pops had decided that by salvaging machina, we might be able to find a weapon capable of destroying Sin. Gippal was a supporter of the more direct approach and thought Pops was just running scared. And one day in the middle of a council meeting (don't ask how he got in, I've never figured that one out) he called Pops a coward. Then he left while Pops was still sputtering with anger, packed his things and left for the Crimson Squad without so much as a goodbye to anyone.
And if you thought that Gippal had gotten better with age, think again. He's become the biggest headache ever. I can't tell you how many meetings he and Pops have had that I've needed to supervise. The problem is that Gippal is still scavenging for machina in the Sanubian desert, and Pops is rebuilding Home. And even though the desert is HUGE, these two have decided to fight over a tiny quarter of it. Pops wants to put Home where Gippal is digging, and Gippal feels his digging is more important than Home.
So if you thought that I was looking forward to my trip to Luca, think again. Battling Sin and Vegnagun together with LeBlanc as my only ally would be more pleasurable.