Rikku just sat at her desk, looking out in disbelief. "You want me to be what?" she asked into her communicator. Her eyes were wide, and her heartbeat sped up. Thoughts raced through her mind.

After coming back from lunch and the unscheduled doctor's appointment, Rikku received a call from none other than Paine. She had been working when this happened, and the thing they were talking about had shocked her to the core.

On the other line, the older woman sighed. "I want you to be my maid of honor," was the reply. She sounded annoyed, but that wasn't exactly abnormal for her. This time, she was agitated too. "Are you going to be or aren't you?"

Again, the blonde shook her head. "…Yes, of course," she replied. "But, why me?"

"You and Yuna are my only two bridesmaids," was the beginning of her explanation. "Yuna is a little wacky at the moment, so you're the only one left."

She blinked. "Is that the only reason?"

"No, there are others."

She waited for them and when she didn't get them, she asked, "Well?"

"Well, what?" Paine asked. "I'll tell you later. I just needed to tell you that before you show up on Friday."

"Friday?" she asked. "What's today again?"

"Tuesday…" her friend trailed off. "Our 'dinner' was the other night, remember?"

"Oh yeah, so that was Sunday, and then yesterday was Monday." She pouted, impressed. "Wow Paine, you have two days before you're not single anymore."

There was another long sigh. "Tell me about it."

"Something wrong?"

"No, just having the last minute jitters, as they're called."

Rikku almost laughed. "Jitters? The great Paine gets those."

"Hey, I already made you my maid of honor, don't push it."

She shook her head with a smile. "No problem," she replied. "I'll call you back later."

As she pressed the button to turn it off, there was a light knock on the door. She had left Elhana at the medical office, since it would take a while for the results to come in and she really needed to get some work done. But, there was her assistant; eyes tear streaked and sniffling, yet collected at the same time.

Rikku stood and came over, taking her hands. "Are you?"

With a trembling jaw, she nodded. "Yes."

Sighing, she closed her eyes, offering her a hug. The younger girl just broke down right there, not even hugging her, but crying into her shoulder. Rikku was the only one really giving the hug, as she led her over to sit down on the chairs. Once settled, Elhana looked up and took a tissue that she was offered, wiping her eyes.

"I'll be fine, it's just that, I don't know what to do," she confessed. "I mean, I'm not even married yet, and Sanron will go ballistic when he finds out."

She almost made a face. At least she knew who the father was. Then, she placed a hand on her knee. "You'll be fine," she said. "Believe me, you're a wonderful person. You'll be a great…mom."

Elhana let out an uneven sigh. "I'm…just so inexperienced. I don't know how to be a mother. I'm not even eighteen. I don't even know how my parents are going to react, better yet Buddy."

She laughed nervously. The Farplane knew what her brother would do at this discovery. At that moment, she really didn't know what to say. But she did look up when there was a knock on the open door.

It wasn't whom she expected, that was for sure. Nhadala was standing there, yet in Zanarkand again. She raised an eyebrow at the situation. "What's wrong?" she asked, coming over with concern.

Rikku stood, leaving Elhana to herself. Elhana and Nhadala were roommates, but weren't as close. She looked to her assistant, then Nhadala. "Well, uh, there's this thing…" she started.

She wasn't able to finish before another person walked inside. Adedrea was humming with a bounce in her step, swinging around the folder she held as she did that. But when seeing the situation, she stopped. She bit her lip. "Uh oh, who died?" she asked, looking between everyone.

At that, Elhana burst into tears again. The two just arriving looked to Rikku for an answer, both shocked and confused. Growling, Rikku went over and closed the front door, locking it. "I have to remember to do that," she said to herself, coming over.

She brought the two newcomers into the first room, leaving Elhana alone a little bit. "You see, uh, Elhana is…" She couldn't put it into words. "Sanron—."

Adedrea's eyes flared. "Did that brother of mine do something to her? 'Cause if he did I'm gonna—!"

"No!" Rikku didn't even have to talk, since Elhana stood and came up to them. "He didn't do anything to me, bad anyway," she explained, holding herself in a hug. "I'm…pregnant."

They both seemed completely surprised at this. Adedrea was outraged. "I'll kill him!" she said, fists clenching. "He knows better than that."

Though, Nhadala looked a little guilty. "This would be a bad time to say Buddy proposed, isn't it?"

Rikku's jaw dropped, and the other two gasped as well. "He what?" Elhana asked. "You two are getting married?"

In an instant, the three started talking rapidly, but then Rikku thought of something. For a moment, she just stood there thinking, before she clapped her hands together, silencing them. They only looked at her, between their words.

"Hey, I just realized something!" she exclaimed, almost happily, holding up a finger. "You guys are all related."

They all just stopped and looked at her. "What?" Adedrea asked, as though she had grown another head.

She thought about it. "Well, you will be," she established.

Her friends simply looked at one another with surprise, before thinking about it. "Now that she says it, it does kind of make sense," Nhadala agreed, shrugging with her arms crossed. "I'm marrying Buddy."

"My brother," Elhana pointed out. "And then I'm carrying Sanron's baby."

"My brother," Adedrea stated. She made a face at it. "That's kinda weird." But then she shook her head. "Never mind about that. Have you told Sanron about the baby yet?" she asked.

Elhana shook her head. "I just got word back from the doctor."

She put a finger to her chin. "I wonder why he was acting so funny, then, if not about that," she mumbled.

"Funny?" Rikku questioned, a little curious.

Adedrea shrugged. "He's been running around, you know, frantically, about something or another. I don't know." She laughed. "Then of course, Gippal was acting weird too. I think it has to do with the Machine Faction. All of them are kinda wacky—not enough interaction with people."

"What was he doing?" Nhadala asked.

She shrugged. "Said that he had a little too much to drink last night," she replied. "And he hasn't been as…cheerful as usual."

The older woman's eyebrow went up. "You mean cocky, annoying and self absorbed?" she asked.

Adedrea nodded. "Yup."

Nhadala had the strangest look on her face. "Wow, he must have had a lot."

Rikku shook her head. "I don't know…" she replied. "I don't remember him getting drunk last night."

At this, they all went silent and looked at her with raised eyebrows. She looked at them innocently. "What?" she asked. "I do live with him. We had a drinking party last night."

Adedrea held back a laugh. " 'Party', who did you invite?"

Rikku gave her a look. "Well, I think I was smashed, because I woke topless on the floor." The girls went silent again. And Rikku slowly began to realize something. "Next to his bed…and in different clothes, and…he took a cold shower this morning!"

The three girls stayed silent for a minute, looking at each other. Rikku looked almost as if she swallowed her tongue. Her heart rate went back up again, and she couldn't think. What was wrong with her that morning? She held her head and shook it. "You don't think…?" she started.

"…Well…" Adedrea started.

"Maybe," Elhana stated. The other two glared at her. "Sorry, I'm pregnant."

Nhadala sighed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't do that," she said, a little confidently. "He's a player, alright, but even he wouldn't do that to a woman."

"And definitely not you," Adedrea said, looking at her roommates, all of them giggling. "He'd rather kill himself before that, wouldn't he?"

Elhana covered her mouth to hold back a giggle and Nhadala nodded with a smile. But, Rikku, on the other had, just looked at them. Her brow was wrinkled and she just looked from one to the other. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

Then, they stopped for a moment. Almost as if they were caught stealing a cookie, each of them broke down and laughed nervously. Fingers were twiddled, and lips bitten, even hair pulled. "She… doesn't know," Nhadala said quietly.

"Well, yeah," Adedrea agreed, almost as if it was obvious.

Elhana stayed silent. Rikku just blinked. "What?"

There was another sigh between the group and Adedrea came over, placing both her hands on her shoulders. "Rikku, I don't know if you haven't noticed, but Gippal likes you."

Her brow knitted together. "Most do."

Nhadala rolled her eyes. "No, sweetie, really… really likes you."

For a moment, she just stared, before her eyes went wide.

At first glance, it was just another book. But when looking at it more, you could see how much of it was used. The buckle on the side had a few holes, all worn and stretched. It was obvious that before it had been held tighter, with the wear from each. Though, gradually, the book had been filled more and needed more room.

As Gippal sat at his desk, he looked at it in his hands. His brow was wrinkled as he just looked at it, holding it in his gloved hands. He never expected that he'd actually have it in his hands. Ever since he first saw it, it was a curiosity of his, never something that he had set his mind into unlocking.

And yet there it was, sitting right in front of him. There was nothing holding him back from opening it and seeing what filled its pages. And yet, there was just the fact that he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Shaking his head, he dropped it and carefully slid off his gloves. It didn't seem right to open it with them on. So, once his hands were completely bare, his fingers unlocked the clasp. Papers fell from it, into a pile on the desk as the cover opened loosely.

He put the book itself down and picked up all the things that had dropped. They weren't what he expected. The pictures were of lots of things. There was one picture of the Bikanel Desert and another of Besaid it looked. Some of the photos were of places; others were of people.

There was one of Yuna, Paine; all those who went on the pilgrimage that finally defeated Sin. Those in them varied in ages. There was one of her father, her brother even. There was even one of him.

When he saw it, he was startled at first. But then, he noted that it was taken before the accident—he still had both eyes showing. They were younger, and he was pretty sure that his sister was the one to have taken the picture.

It was in Bikanel, when they were playing once. It was before she was annoyed to be in his presence. They were playing in the oasis, and both were soaking wet. Smiles and giggles were all over their faces. Rikku had just caught him by surprise by splashing him, and he had held up his arms to guard himself.

He remembered that day. It was a happy one, one that had been nice after his parents' deaths. After touching the edges briefly more than the others, he put it back into the pile and went through the rest. The others didn't stand out too much to him, so he went to the book.

It was frail, so he picked it up carefully. The first pages were bound to the regular book, and had handwriting on it that he recognized as Rikku's when she was younger. As he flipped through the pages, the dates on them were more and more recent, her handwriting becoming better and more of her own.

His eye gazed over the words, realizing the book he held was none other than her diary. She wrote down her thoughts and feelings into this book, the happenings to her throughout her life. She didn't write in it every day, he noted, only when something was on her mind.

He looked to the date that he remembered as the day he came to Bikanel with his sister. She had written something that day.

'A boy and his sister came to Home today,' she had written. 'I think I found myself a new friend. His name's Gippal, and his eyes are really bright. His mother and father are dead, not like me. He has no one left, except his sister. Her name's Nhadala.'

One event happened in a later date. 'I can't stand him!' were her words. Gippal didn't have to even guess whom she was talking about. 'He annoys me so much. Why does he have to bother me all the time?' He almost laughed at this. 'I hate that stupid nickname too! Couldn't he have some up with something a little more, I don't know, creative? 'Cid's girl?' I mean, come on.'

'He can never leave me alone, can he? I can't even go into my room without him pestering me. He almost found this book, too. I wouldn't be able to stand it if he did.'

There weren't only words in the pages, but pictures she'd drawn. There were some of the creatures they'd beaten or warded off on a day, or maybe a machina that she'd 'helped' him complete. But then he found a page covered in tearstains. At least, that's what they appeared to be.

The writing was scratchy, and even illegible at times. 'Oh, that idiot,' it said. 'Why did he have to go and do that? He jumped in front of me and took that blow from the machina. He's so stupid!'

'There was so much blood, so much. I was screaming and I didn't know why. Pops kept assuring me he wasn't dead, and I wouldn't move away even when they tried to carry me away from him. I never left his side last night. I was so grateful that he finally woke up. He never even told me why he did it—he lost his eye. He'll probably be blind in it now, and it'll scar. He really is stupid.'

But then he got to things that happened less than a few years ago. 'Off to find Yunie today—hope I can get her to safety,' she wrote. 'She's slipped away a few times, thanks to her guardians. I can't believe that they hooked Tidus into it too. I mean, he's a little mental; is that really safe?'

At this, he smiled.

'Now I'm a guardian—I can't believe it. I still want to save Yunie though. The others seem nice, but that Auron guy is so… creepy. Though I wonder why he didn't tell Wakka I'm an Al Bhed, seeing as though Wakka doesn't exactly like Al Bhed. Asked Lulu about it, but all she said was that it had something to do with his brother, Chappu. She said he looked like Tidus. Meaning, that he's dead.'

'Yunie actually said yes! She's marrying Seymour! I don't like him at all—he's way too creepy, even creepier than Auron. I have to do something about it, Tidus wants to too. He's been acting a little funny, lately. He sure was bummed out about it.'

After this, she only wrote gibberish, not really making any sense. They were random words, nothing in order. They were only adjectives, though, describing something that wasn't mentioned. For a while, he went through them all to place them all together.

Andthen there was one entry that hit him, 'He's gone. He's dead. Tidus is gone. Yunie won't stop crying, or smiling. They really did love each other.'

He looked up, and made a face. Did Rikku… like Tidus or something? According to this, she did. He guessed finding out that he and her cousin were in love threw a monkey wrench into it. But… it looked like she got over it, to the very least. She looked really happy at their wedding.

Again, he turned through the pages. He knew what he was doing and that it was really wrong for her to do it. But he couldn't stop, not now. He couldn't stop when he knew that there might be answers to his questions.

He flipped through the events of Vegnagun, seeing as that they weren't exactly delightful—and he was there. Sin was something he hadn't gone through, but Vegnagun on the other hand…

Gippal shook his head and found another page. It was less than a few months ago, half a year maybe.

'Finally!' she underlined. 'They're getting married. I was beginning to worry for a bit there. Yunie and Tidus are so perfect for each other; I can't wait to see them tie the knot. And they're even having it on Besaid beach, during the sunset. Isn't that romantic? Personally, I would have a large wedding—with a long, fancy dress. Maybe in Zanarkand, or even the Moonflow.'

'Yeah, yeah, so shoot me, I'm working for Pops. I need the money, it's not like I can find something else better to do. It's not as if my life can't get any worse.'

'My life is hell!' He almost laughed, but held it back. 'Pops wants me to be a grandkid machine, Paine's getting hitched, he's here for a visit and I can't get any work done! Where's my coffee!'

'Gippal is in my room! My room, you know why? He's my new roommate. I hate those pipes! He's in there, naked! Naked! And what does Yunie say? 'So what!' She deals with naked Tidus all the time. That's really great, Yunie, but he's your husband! What about Gippal and me—we are not married. I wouldn't touch him with a stick.'

This hurt a little, but then he noted that Rikku sometimes lied about her feelings, even to herself, if that was even possible to do. He raised an eyebrow, the pages leading up to the day he was on.

'Just when you think he's terrible, he turns out to be sweet. First the flowers, then the gifts, and then the saving of the life… what's his problem? It's almost as if he… wants to…' Her writing began to get jumbled. '…marry me. Does he?'

'Saw him in the shower just a minute ago. Boy is he hot. Come on, a wet Gippal? What girl can resist? I am just so glad I didn't see anything below the waist. Why can't he be ugly? It'd be easier not to be attracted to him.'

This surprised him. She actually… was attracted to him? And she wasn't lying about that either. After all, she wasn't writing in a fury, like in other times. Still, it just hit a nerve in him. But then, thinking to the previous night, he recalled that she was the one to attack him while drunk. Then he saw that there was more to the entry.

'Why do I feel this?' she asked the paper. 'My heart's in my throat and my stomach twists in knots whenever I see him. I can't think straight. Why is this happening? It's so strange. I'm so confused and nervous. Then, when I spend time with him, I like it. I felt so right in his arms after he saved me from that ledge. Not to mention that kiss, that one that led to the hickey on my neck.'

He looked up; he'd given her a hickey? He blinked, and then nodded. It was probably why Paine went ballistic at the dinner and dragged her away. Still, he looked back down and continued reading.

'I don't know why I'm admitting this, but I really liked that. It's horrible, I know. I can't stand him, and yet here I am attracted to him. Why is life so complicated? I can talk to him about everything and yet can't tell him anything.'

'I know he it's the same in his case, the whole attraction thing. I even think he might like me. I mean really like, like. But, do I like him? I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.'

And that's where her writing stopped. There were no more entries left in the book. But Gippal didn't need more, for he put the book down and closed it. Closing his eyes, and sat back. That was a lot to take in. The book held so much information, and he still hadn't read all of it yet. But what was he going to do with it?

"You're what!"

"Eloping," Elhana said, nervously as she held her friend's hands in her own. "Please come with me."

"Isn't the eloping part supposed to be with a guy?" Rikku asked, eyes wide with shock.

It was after quitting time in the offices. Elhana had earlier gone to tell Sanron that he was going to be a father, and when she returned, she asked her boss to come with them. To say she was shocked was an understatement.

"I'm eloping with Sanron, but we need witnesses," she said, looking her in the eye. "Sanron is asking Gippal. Please come with me."

"But why elope?" she asked, concern in her voice. "Don't your parents agree with it?"

"We just want it over and done with, so no one knows that I was pregnant before the wedding," she said, biting her lip as she looked to the ground. "He was running around like crazy this morning because he was going to propose to me. When he did, I told him and we thought this best."

Rikku put a hand to her head. "But… you're doing this so rashly. Can't you think about it?"

"We already have, and I really love him, Rikku," she said, pleading in her eyes. "He told me the same. Please, please do this for me. I've never wanted anything else from you."

For a minute, she looked out in thought. Elhana was one of her good friends. She couldn't just leave her like this. And if it was what she really wanted, she should support her decision. Both she and Sanron were adults; they just wanted things to happen a little bit more quickly.

Biting her own lip, Rikku sighed. "Okay," she said. She looked to the clock and then grabbed her purse from the desk. "Come on." She took her friend's hand, Elhana smiling like mad. "Let's go before I start thinking clearly and change my mind."

She nodded and they headed for the door. "Where are we going anyway?" Rikku asked curiously.

"The nearest chapel."

"And that would be?"

"Calm Lands."

Yeah, yeah, you can all yell at me. Another cliffie, seeing whether or not the two really get hitched. You know, I don't do it on purpose. It's weird how you do things subconsciously. Anyway, reviews please! Love hearing from all of you (well, unless you tell me I suck at writing, but that's just mean and I know those who've read this far into the story would've said that with the first ten chapters).