The Echo
Chapter 9: Changes

Four days had passed… some of the longest days of my life. With each passing day, my little girl was nearing the one month old mark. I'd celebrated her first day and her first week without Rikku. Now, it seemed I would have to rejoice over her first month of life without her as well. But of course, this time… it was my fault. Last time it was kind of my fault, too.

I took advantage of the moments in which no one was within the Chamber of the Fayth to get inside the temple. The noise of the thunderous rock shell that encased the temple would have scared Telan… and Telan went everywhere with me. The first day I took her into the office, all of the workers had looked at me as if I were insane. I'd already gone about, showing pictures to anyone who was willing (or not willing, as it turned out, for I didn't care) to look. Now I was bringing the real thing into a loud environment? Was I crazy?

Of course I was. And so they adjusted quite quickly. Telan did, too… thankfully. Of course… I had to avoid the questions about why the real thing was here, and not with her mother on Besaid. I'd done a pretty good job, I thought. And, of course… I was the last one left in Djose who was still adjusting to the situation at hand.

A knock sounded on the door as I left the kitchen, four empty beer bottles and various containers of hard liquor on the table. I walked to the door, blissfully distracted from all my problems by the heavy buzz of the drink.

Once I opened the door, a familiar blonde woman stood outside, smirking. Familiar, but at that moment, I couldn't have told you her name. "Hi, Gippal."

"Hey there!" I said, sounding like a bumbling, drunken idiot. Which, of course, I was.

"You busy? I had a few questions to ask you…"

I shrugged and let her in, not noticing the grin that spread across her features. She glanced inside the kitchen at the bottles, following me into the living room. I sat heavily upon the couch and grinned at her charmingly. "What can I do for ya?"

She pushed a few strands of my loose and messy hair off my forehead and sat next to me. I frowned slightly. "Anything you want…"

She pulled me to her and kissed my lips seductively. I pulled back in surprise. "Uh… this isn't a good idea…"

"Don't you want to do something for me?"

"Not really, anymore…"

But then, she'd kiss me again, straddled my lap, and unzipped my pants. And I was lost in her actions, stupid enough to succumb to them.

I sat behind my desk, holding the warm bottle as Telan drank, when a knock sounded on the door that afternoon. "Come in," I called, quietly, careful not to disturb the baby. She liked the loud noises of the workroom. She hated loud noises in places that were supposed to be quiet. It was rather amusing when you stopped to think about it, but quite inconvenient, as well.

Adena slipped into the room, her eyes on the floor. I glared at her for a moment, but when she looked up, I changed my look to one of disinterest and sat straighter in my chair. I was behind the desk, after all, and I was her boss. I needed her to see that from the get go.

"Have a seat." I nodded to one of the two chairs that sat in front of my desk. She stared at me for a moment before pulling the chair out and sitting upon it. Her gaze lingered on Telan for a few fleeting seconds before she looked up at me once more.

"You're firing me, aren't you?"

"No. I have a few questions, though." My calm, cold tone echoed throughout the office. It always amazed me when I switched over to business mode. I was so indifferent… but then again, that was what being an Al Bhed was. We could be calm, collected, cold… like machina. Or we could be bouncy, bright, and warm, like the desert. It was in our blood. I was just more intimidating than most when in machina-mode. "The first being… why did you come over that night in the first place?"

She was quiet, her face guilty. "I honestly did have a question, but then… I noticed that you were a little off… and I…"

"You were in the mood? So you decided to take advantage of my faulty sobriety?" I asked her, calmly, shifting Telan in my arms. I met her eyes coolly, and she nodded ever so slightly. "I figured as much. You've been trying to get me ever since Rikku left. So what did you come over to ask me?"

"If you wanted the new boosters in Hover Model A33…"

"Yeah, I do. But I already told that to the new head of the department, so don't bother yourself with it." I stared down at my daughter, not caring about being rude.

"So you really are firing me?"

"No. Nhadala needed a secretary, and you've done a good job while you were here. So you're going back to Bikanel, indefinitely." I looked up at her now, and shrugged. "You know, Adena, I could have let you keep your job here if you would have approached me while I was sober, but what you did was wrong. I'm not entirely blaming you, I'm partly to blame. However, my judgment was inhibited, yours was not, and your actions are not condonable. I'm sorry."

She shook her head and frowned at the desktop, before gazing at Telan once more. "You have no reason to be sorry. I do." The little one coughed and I pulled her bottle away swiftly, patting her back to keep her from choking on the milk. "She's beautiful."

I nodded. "She really is… you're free to go, Adena. The airship is going to be picking you up in two hours, so I suggest you pack." She stood and walked to the door, opening it before she stopped and turned to face me.

"Tell Rikku I'm sorry."

I nodded appreciatively. "I will."

I clapped a hand on one of the new mechanics' shoulder. "Grab that wrench… yeah, that one. Use it. It'll work better than that stupid riveter."

He nodded, and I rocked back and forth on my heels, watching him work as I continually kept Telan in motion. She was sleeping, for the moment. I understood what Rikku meant about her not stopping. There were the few pleasant moments in which she was the same calm, happy baby she'd been in Luca, but more often than not, she would scream. The only time I could seem to get her to sleep was when I was surrounded by people. I didn't understand it, really.

"That better, boss?"

"Much. Manual building always works better than using machinery to build… well machinery. Remember that." I grinned and walked away, glancing at the trainees without much interest, occasionally correcting someone. I must have looked ridiculous, holding a baby, surrounded by grime and grease. But I didn't really care. I had two jobs to do, at the moment… lead a faction, be a father. And if this was how I had to do incorporate one into the other, then I'd do it without question.

I walked up the Highbridge slowly, looking out over the bright waters of Bevelle's harbor. Dolphins frolicked just beneath the surface, far out in the mouth of the expanse. Schools of fish could be seen from where I walked… it was peaceful, in a way. I'd needed things to be peaceful. I'd been gone for nearly six days. Telan would be a month old in two, and I wasn't there, once again. The previous evening, I'd finally picked up a CommSphere and talked to Gippal for a few, tense minutes. He was exhausted, I could tell. Telan was fine, or so he said. But she cried a lot. I knew that, already. I'd simply told him to give her a kiss for me, and broken the connection. It still hurt to see him, even in the CommSphere.

Two soldiers saluted me as I approached the city gates. "Lady Rikku…" I nodded to them, and they let me through the archway. I walked distractedly down the streets toward one of Bevelle's various inns.

"Rikku? What are you doing in the city?" a pleasant voice called out, not far away. I turned toward it and scanned the crowds, grinning a bit as Baralai approached me.

"Hi, Baralai… I… just looking for a place to rest, I guess."

He looked at me expectantly. I just stared back at him. "Yuna said you had the baby?"

I nodded and looked around in vain for someone to save me from explaining my situation. "Yeah… she's with Gippal right now."

"Yeah… I heard."

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Yuna tell you that, too?" He shrugged and grinned.

"Maybe."

"Great." I shook my head and continued to walk toward the inn. My legs were killing me from the walk through Macalania, and I needed to rest.

Baralai reached for my arm and pointed up at the temple. "We've got rooms for special people like you, come on. Don't pay for the hotel when you don't need to."

He was only trying to be nice, after all… I sighed heavily and nodded. It would be good to see an old friend.

Here it is! The next chapter will be good, lol! Thanks to FairyIce!

Just a little note… I got a review today that made me kind of sad. This will be the first time I answer a reviewer in the author note… I usually respond to each reviewer individually by email, but seeing as you didn't leave your email address… kku-ri, I'm sorry that the last chapter bored you. I hope this one was more to your liking. Both of them were to my liking, otherwise I wouldn't have posted them. What exactly bored you about number 8? The emotional turmoil, or the lack of interaction between characters, or something else? Despite common belief… handling one character is much more difficult than handling more. It was a difficult chapter to write, and I was rather hoping people would like it. But, if not… I'll just have to try harder, I guess. Next time you review, if you find something you don't like, could you be specific? Maybe then I'll know how to fix it, instead of having to wonder what was interesting and what was not. Because, while that chapter may have bored you… reading a review that doesn't necessarily have much of a review in it except for a comment that gives me no help, but does give me some confusion, is rather boring as well. Thanks. (If that sounded evil, I apologize. I didn't mean for it to.) Even so, to you and the others, thanks for taking the time to review. I appreciate it, and I do hope that this chapter makes up for whatever number 8 lacked. Emmy-miester… chapter 18 of TIAA is almost finished. I hate that fic, as FairyIce well knows. I'm trying to finish it, but the ideas aren't flowing, and I hate to force it. Then it sounds REALLY bad, as opposed to it's normal state of horrid, lol.

Please Review!