This is the first part of chapter 14, that I have divided into two sections. I needed it to work like that, because there are two really good cliffies I want you all to see (one at the end of this one and one at the end of the next one). But, since they both are sort of short, I made them into one chapter. Don't worry, I'll post the next one shortly after this. The scenes in here may seem pointless (like the first one) but pay attention to the conversations and what Rikku says. Also, make sure you do the same with Gippal in scene two. Cool? Good. Thanks for reading this part and on with the show...

"What the rimm happened!"

Rikku had been in the middle of an interview when her main technician, Adedrea came running in with alarm. After excusing herself, they came into the housing apartments and found that the floor had water up to everyone's ankles. She stood with Elhana and Adedrea as she looked around, some of her workers already looking around.

"Oh dear," Elhana said, bitting her lip.

Adedrea put a finger to her temple. "Well, we're not exactly sure what happened," she said, leading them through the water. She went over to a spot in the building and pointed to the pipe running along the ceiling. There was a piece missing. "But, the main water pipe just started leaking and then boom! water everywhere."

Rikku cringed. "Perfect," she said. "How many floors?"

"The first two. And there's more than one hole."

Sighing, she looked around. "Elhana, I need you to shut down the construction."

Her assistant almost dropped her clipboard and looked at Rikku as though she'd grown another head. "Sh-shut it down?" she asked, looking at her papers. "But that will put us behind schedule completely. We already are backed into last month."

"We need everyone to move around. How many holes are there?" She looked over to Adedrea.

She sighed and yelled for a worker. He came over and she whispered something to him. He answered her and then she looked at Rikku with disappointment. "Over five dozen," she told her. "In counting."

Rikku growled under her breath and then nodded at Elhana. "Shut it down," she said. "Everyone has to move around their things. I need everyone to bunk up together too. Twice as many people per room," she instructed. "Every one. I'll even offer up my room for someone else. Also, have a few people in the other suit up on the top floor."

Adedrea nodded before returning to work. Elhana sighed and started to walk away, but then she came back. "But, we will lose so many funds with this," she pointed out, concerned like always.

The princess nodded. "Don't worry, everyone will go back to work tomorrow," she assured with a smile. She wrinkled her nose in a smile. "What do you think I'm doing? I just need everyone out of the way when we do the repairs." She seemed surprisingly cheerful.

Elhana sighed. "Alright, but we still will need people to help here tomorrow."

"Oh, I have that covered," she said with a grin, looking the other way. "I have a way to get some extra hands."

Since his arrival in Zanarkand, Gippal had seen hide or hair of the beautiful blond princess. He didn't know when Rikku had caught not only his eye, but heart as well, but he knew she had and with that came determination. And whenever he wanted something, he made sure to work to get it. This matter was nothing different from anything else.

What had his friends said when he admitted this? Well...Nooj laughed and gave him a sarcastic 'good luck,' before he hobbled back to the game. Baralai gave him a comforting look and patted him on the shoulder. Tidus on the other hand, cringed and punched him playfully on the arm and gave him good wishes. After all, he was like a brother to Rikku, and that, at least, was something.

Still, he'd never been one to settle for just one girl before, seeing as that none of the ones he'd met came up to his standards. This was probably why Nooj had laughed. Then again, his standards had always been compared to the features Rikku had. (Of course he never came to this conclusion until recently.) But, when Cid told him he wanted him to marry his daughter, he started thinking about settling down.

It was true that he wasn't getting any younger (even if he wasn't that old) and he didn't want there to be a major gap in he and his children's age. The issue about kids also came up. Anyone other than Rikku having his children didn't exactly register in his brain. Just something about it didn't feel right.

Could you blame him for falling for her? What male (besides her relatives) didn't notice her when she came into a room? Rikku was far from ugly and had one heck of a body. She literally lit up the room with her presence and personality. She was energetic, easy to talk to when (she wasn't armed), a match in fighting and not to mention playful with plenty of spunk. She was naive in some ways, but not innocent, so that gave her a little bit of cuteness. She was, in his status, perfect.

But, seeing as that she worked right down the hallway from him, he was a bit concerned with the fact that he hadn't even seen her since the previous day. Come on, how was he gonna get her in a white dress and walk down the isle if she was still so angry she wouldn't even look at him? He did send her that old doll of hers he'd found those months ago and a flower. Wasn't that enough for an apology? Maybe he should have sent a dozen flowers.

Gippal was sitting in his office that had been set up for him. He did have to admit that it was nicer than the other one he had in Djose. Cid had made a smart decision by moving him, even if he was unclear about the motives. Hey, if it got him closer to Rikku, he didn't mind.

He was working, like he usually had to do in his office, when there was a knock on his door. His assistant's name was Sanron, who opened the door without permission. Behind him was a familiar face, who he recognized as the Rikku's assistant. What was her name, Elhana?

"Hey, boss, you got a message," he said, holding the doorknob as the younger girl walked in. Gippal noticed her blush as she nodded at Sanron and his grin, but didn't say anything. He rolled his eyes; he'd deal with them later.

"Is it singing?" he asked her, as the door closed again, raised eyebrow to make her a little bit more comfortable. She was a nice girl, but too jumpy.

She smiled weakly and came up to him shyly. "Um, no," she said. She placed an envelope on his desk. "Princess Rikku asked me to give this to you. I'm supposed to wait for you to reply too."

He nodded, his eyes on the envelope as she left, going to wait outside he supposed. The stationery used was yellow—her favorite color—and she used a nice ink to write out his name on the front. He couldn't help but notice how it had the scent of her perfume on it as he looked at it closely. Opening it easily, for it wasn't sealed, he took out the enclosed letter and opened it.

"Dear Gippal, the housing facilities in the city have experienced some damage when a pipe burst," it read. "With this, not only are my workers forced to bunk even closer together, but yours as well. Plus, the damages will have to be repaired.

"For this to happen, I will need some hands to do the repairs. All of mine are filled with original work, that has been behind schedule for some time. My request from you is that you would please send your workers to help a little, since they will be living there too. All I need is manpower, no skill needed."

"Please send your replies and instruction for your workers with Elhana, and I will be expecting them shortly. Formally yours, Princess Rikku of the Al Bhed."

After reading it, he noticed there was more towards the bottom. "P.S. Thank you for finding Rianna and I'm sorry I slapped you."

He smiled at that and then looked around with thought. Maybe he could get something good out of this.