first, i'd like to thank all that have read and reviewed this. this one has been a major work in progress. and now, here's what you've been waiting for, chapter four...(don't worry, this one's the best so far)
"Well, tomorrow you start interviews," Elhana read, going over the schedule for the next day as Rikku did some work. She came over and handed her a cup of coffee as she filled out some paper work. "But, before that at nine, you have to go set up the registration office out front. After that's set up, you'll have to get someone to run it and make sure the airships bringing them in are where they're supposed to be. After that, you start interviews, but you need to instruct someone to tell them what to do and get them settled into their rooms..."
"Elhana," Rikku interrupted. "Sorry, but I am just too busy filling all this out today. Can you just head home? Tell me tomorrow okay?"
She nodded with a small smile. "Yes, malady." She bowed politely. "I'll just put all the files away."
Rikku nodded, not looking at her. "I'll get the ones I have here, thanks," she replied, going over more papers.
It was soon that she heard the door to the office close and footsteps heading in the other direction. She signed a few more forms and filled a few things out. But eventually she felt that really annoying pain around her eyes that told her she was tired. She needed sleep or she'd look terrible the next day.
Writing a note for herself, she put it on her desk to finish up the work tomorrow morning, first thing. She left the folders she'd need on her desk, but she still had another few files in a pile. When she saw their colors, she instantly groaned.
Elhana had a quite unique filing system. Each cabinet had a color, and so did each drawer. And remembering which one was which was impossible to her. And when seeing how many colors there were, she noticed she'd be running around to put them away. Not only that, she'd have to put them back exactly where she (or Elhana) had found them.
That was why she groaned. Wasn't this her assistant's job? Well... she did do a good job of it, if it was a plus. How she got all the files Rikku asked for in less than a minute was pretty good. Maybe it was because she came up with the system in the first place.
Oh well, it was folder sorting time. She got up and outside, where the main office was. The walls were lined with many files. So, to start, she began with the first one. But it wasn't very easy to go through them with only one hand, so she placed the pile of folders on the desk. Then she went back over to the open drawer and fingered through all the files.
What made her jump was a voice. "You know, all work and no play makes Rikku a very grouchy girl," it said.
It was almost as if a jolt of electricity went through her, she jumped so much. Her hands slammed against the drawer so hard, you could hear it with the impact. She whirled over to the door, where an all familiar figure stood. "Gippal," she said, breathlessly. "Yevon, what the heck are you trying to do?" she asked.
The machine leader was leaning in the door frame. His arms were crossed and his body was tilted against the one side. He put on one of his famous grins, laughing a little to himself. "I was right," he stated, standing up completely straight.
She rolled her eyes and looked at the contents of the drawer again. "Did you need something?" she asked, not really paying attention to what she was doing.
He shrugged. "Not really," he said, looking around a little. His eyes scanned over the room momentarily. "Nice set up you have here," he said, sincerely, which surprised her. "Who's your decorator?"
That she expected. "What do you want?" she asked, voice annoyed this time.
"Nothing," he replied. "It's just, everyone else's asleep and I'm not disturbing the newlyweds."
"You and Tidus hit it off, huh?" she asked, going over to the desk and retrieving the file she wanted.
"Who knew the guy was that much of a blast at parties. I'd expected him to be grumpy and dull," he said rather bluntly, going over and sitting on the desk next to her. He picked up a ball that was there (something that Elhana usually played with) and started to throw it from one hand to another. "After the whole being a dream and dead for two years, you'd think that about him."
That made her crack a smile. "He was never dull," she replied. "I thought he was nuts when we found him," she said, going over to another cabinet. "We were salvaging some ruins and we found him fighting off a fiend. We brought him back to the ship and Brother made him work a little. He told me that he was from Zanarkand afterwards. You can imagine my response."
He nodded a little. "Anyway. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I was just about to head to my room," she replied. "It's just that finding where everything goes in these cabinets is what's slowing me down. I never should have let Elhana go home."
"Yeah, but who are you to back down from a challenge?"
She turned to him and crossed her arms. "Does it involve a sand-worm?"
He gave her a look. "We're in Zanarkand, not Bikanel," he reminded her. "Sand-wormsonly live in the sand. Notice the name."
"I am aware of that," she stated, coming over next to him. She picked up another folder.
"Still, you didn't really answer my question," he stated. "I meant, why are you here? Working? Don't you have Spira to save or something?"
Again, she rolled her eyes. "Wasn't twice enough times? And thank you very much, but the world is finally peaceful. Can't you enjoy it?" she asked. "And I'm working here because some people like to make a living."
"What do you think I do?" he asked in reply. "I'd be working back in Djose if it weren't for Cid. Why is it he asked me to stay a few days? Do you know?"
At the question she froze. She looked up with wide eyes and dropped the folder, only to catch it before it landed on the desk. "Uh..." she said, gathering herself up. "No. No, I don't know."
She kept her head down and went over to a cabinet. And instead of putting the folders away nicely, she just shoved them all inside. "Really?" Gippal asked in reply, sounding as if he didn't believe her. He put his feet on the floor and stood up. "Not a clue?"
"No not one," she replied quickly, running around the room more frantic this time. She finally just took all the folders and stuck them in the empty drawer that was just extra and went inside her office.
He followed her, she could hear with his footsteps. "Where are you going?"
"To get my bag and stuff," she replied, going around to her chair. "Can't leave them here, something might happen to them."
She bent down to retrieve her things from the drawer and when she stood back up, Gippal was standing right there next to her. "Uh...could you move? You can stay, but I'd like to get to bed," she stated, with a slight grin.
With a raised eyebrow, he shook his head. "You are not going anywhere, princess," he stated, taking a step forward.
When he did, she took one backwards, and when she did, she ran into the desk. So that only left him to do it again, so she was pinned between him and the desk. "Uh...Gippal, what are you doing?" she asked, dropping what was in her hand.
He was so close to her that their faces were inches apart. Her eyes were wide, either with shock or confusion. She lifted her hands to push him away but noticed that he was too strong for her. And his face...oh, that was a dangerous territory. She could feel his breath on her lips and all she could really see was his eyes (or eye, whichever).
He just remained smug. "What are you hiding, princess?" he asked against her lips, leaning into them. He touched them, but just barely. "Why does Cid want me here?"
Rikku swallowed a large lump in her throat. Oh...she hated it when he did this. He never actually kissed her, but just teased her until he got what he wanted, then he'd let go. But this time she wasn't backing down. She wouldn't tell him.
"I...don't really want to...well, tell you," she replied, voice shaky, as her breaths came out uneven.
He leaned in a little bit more, bringing his hand up to clasp her upper arm. "Why not?" he whispered, his voice rather husky.
"Uh..." She tried to speak but nothing came out. She wanted to make words form on her lips, but nothing happened. It was like her brain has just cut off all signals it was making.
"Tell me, please?" he asked.
Her head was screaming for her to do something, anything, distract him with something. But, she just mumbled one thing. "...no."
And that was when he kissed her. As soon as his lips claimed hers, her eyes widened with contact. She knew she had gasped and he took it as a perfect opportunity to enter her mouth. When she felt his tongue against hers, she came to her senses and screamed into his mouth, fingers clinging to his shirt harshly. What in Spira was he doing? And why?
But after a moment all thought went out the window and all common sense was lost to her. Rikku just closed her eyes and kissed him back. It was actually enjoyable. She had no idea how long they were like that, until something broke them apart.
"Rikku?" came a startled voice.
Her eyes widened and she ripped away. There in the door was none other than Yuna. Her cousin was standing there with wide eyes, looking between the two of them with complete and total shock.
And then, she did the only thing she could think of. She ran.
She ran like no tomorrow, picking up her bag and running out the door. She ran out the business building, down the stairs, through all the construction sites, over all the machina, up the stairs to the living quarters and finally into her room. The door slammed behind her and she pressed her back up against it, sliding down to the ground with exhaustion.
What was going on? Her head was spinning so much she was dizzy. Oh, what a horrible day.