Glass Half-Full
(A/N: Hello again! Welcome to Chapter 4 of Glass Half-Full. I'm warning you, this has been the toughest chapter to write so far, and I still don't give it my complete seal of approval. Nonetheless, I'm sick of looking over it, and I've decided to go balls-out and post it for my favorite fans. (Now go 'awwww.') I had a writer's block halfway through, so forgive me if this entry isn't completely up to par when it comes to your expectations. Thanks again for reading; your support and kind reviews cheer me up like you wouldn't believe. Enjoy! -Lindsay-)
Chapter 4: New Beginnings and Oaka's Black Market
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As the airship doors to the Celcius opened, Yuna and Tidus sat awake in the bridge. Gippal slowly walked in, careful not to wake the unconscioius Rikku in his arms, and Yuna darted up from her seat.
"What---!" She began, and Gippal silenced her by putting one of his fingers up to his lips. Tidus then stood up, peering over his girlfriend's shoulder at the Al Bhed in his arms.
"She had a little too much to drink," Gippal whispered to them, "Nothing a good PR agent couldn't handle." Yuna looked like she'd just been hit by a train, and Gippal smirked at her.
"Don't worry, Yuna. I'll take care of her for the night; it's no trouble."
The High Summoner looked relieved as Gippal walked past the two of them into the elevator. He already knew how to navigate around the Celcius seeing as he'd stumbled upon the ancient blueprints in his Djose office one day. Within minutes, he had Rikku upstairs and into her bed.
"Hmm. You're burning up, Cid's girl..." Gippal mumbled, mostly to himself, as he grazed her forehead with the back of his hand. He stood again, removing her high-heeled shoes, and jogged down to a sleepy Barkeep. He asked for a couple of damp cloths, a bucket of ice water, and a normal empty bucket; afterwards, he jogged right back up to Rikku's side.
"There..." he whispered, wringing out one of the cloths and wiping the overheated Al Bhed's forehead. Her breathing quickened for a moment, and she opened her eyes.
"Ughh...I...I'm gonna..." she grumbled, and Gippal was quick to understand what was happening. With a swift movement, he grabbed the empty bucket just as Rikku leaned over the side of the bed to empty her stomach. In the meantime, he held back her hair.
The majority of the night went mostly like that; Rikku fading in and out of consciousness and occasionally throwing up. Not once did Gippal fail to aid her in her uncomfortable state as he kept her cool and readied himself for every upset stomach. Around four or five in the morning, her sickness ceased, and Gippal covered her up completely with her blanket. He, on the other hand, stole a blanket from one of the other beds not in use and wrapped himself in it. As opposed to sleeping in one of the other beds in the room, he chose a chair next to Rikku's bed. This way, he'd wake up immediately if she were to get sick again.
Around noon, the sun coming through the airship's window woke the Al Bhed girl. She had a splitting headache and couldn't remember a single event from the previous night.
Oh, Yevon. I need to invest in some curtains in this place. What HAPPENED last night...? Leblanc and Nooj got married...I went to a reception...Paine was dancing...I was dancing...ugh. Gippal showed up and upset me...can't remember anything past that, but it apparently involved alcohol...
Rikku sighed, nursing her sore head, and rolled over in her bed. Then, she gasped, wanting to get up and run that very moment. Sleeping in a chair next to her bed and wrapped in blankets was a very tired-looking Gippal.
Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no. That pile of Shoopuf cred tried to take advantage of me last night! I'll kill him!
Rikku reached for the first thing her hand could grab and chucked it at the Machine Faction leader. That thing happened to be a small alarm clock, and it smacked him right in the head, causing him to wake up immediately.
"Ow! Cid's girl, what the hell was that for!" he shouted, springing up from his chair and holding his forehead in pain. Rikku wrapped the blankets around herself a little tighter, her headache beginning to grow.
"You should know, you big molester!" She shouted back, and Gippal stopped dead in his tracks. Then...he began to laugh.
"I...hahaha...I molested you, huh? Yes, I certainly did, Rikku. In your state of flat-out drunkeness, I became the gentleman and attempted to get you into bed with me. Because I'm really into girls that vomit all over you when they sleep with you."
Rikku scowled at him.
"I wouldn't put it past you. You're nothing but a player, ya know! You abandoned me without a word, then left for the Crimson Squad. And I can only imagine how many girls you were with before you left to become a hero, Gippal. But just forget about Cid's girl, right?" she spat defensively, her tossled hair all over her face. Gippal felt as if his heart had just shattered into a million pieces. Now he had some reputation for sleeping around!
In his complete state of shock, Gippal found that he couldn't even say a word back. Her logic was so unbelievably twisted that he had no choice but to feel a bit shellshocked. He looked at his former girlfriend, his reason for everything. She was beautiful even if she was furious, hungover, and tired. Suddenly, Gippal deflated.
"I did try to be the hero. You're right about that." he spoke softly, and tossed his blanket on the stripped bed. With that, he jogged down the stairs without looking back, passing Barkeep, and ran into the elevator. When he passed through the bridge, he saw Tidus asleep in one of the cockpit chairs and heard a particular sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like...vomiting. No time to stay, though. He rushed out of the exit, preparing to head back to Djose. Preparing to leave everything like he'd done long ago.
Rikku sat up in her bed, her head throbbing. Inside, she knew something was off, but figured it was just her nerves after tangling with her ex boyfriend again. How did he expect her to feel after suddenly re-emerging in her life? And in such a suspicious way, too! She stood, preparing to walk downstiars, but instead opted to fall into the bed with Gippal's used blankets on them. They...they smelled just like him. Her head throbbed again.
About 15 minutes later, Yuna dizzily emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was all over the place, and it looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Making sure Tidus was still asleep in his chair, she worked her way to the engine room, CommSphere in hand. When she seated herself on the floor, she flicked the round object on.
"Oaka? Can you hear me? It's Yuna...I need your help."
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Two weeks later, everybody still seemed to be a mess. Of course, Rikku was over her hangover, but she still couldn't shake the random appearence of the Machine Faction leader. Yuna was worrying everybody, though. More and more lately she was avoiding her closest friends, not speaking much at all and peering out of the airship's windows almost constantly.
"Rikku? When will we arrive in Bikanel?" she finally spoke one day, startling her cousin as she passed. Rikku slowly turned towards her, eyeing her presence at the window again.
"We should be there by nightfall...why? Is something up?" she replied, trying to read Yuna's face. She recognized her expression almost immediately; it was the face that said she was about to confront something she was frightened of, but had to be brave. She'd seen it a thousand times when they'd faced off against Spira's toughest contenders. But for what, now? Bikanel...Home was completely safe; they'd seen it just a few weeks ago! What new danger could have arrived in the desert sands since they'd last left? Yuna shook her head almost too defiantly.
"No, no. Everything's fine. I'm just getting airsick, I think."
"Ok...if you need anything, let me know!" Rikku replied with a chipper tone to her voice. She now had to put on her mask that she wore during her pilgrimage with Yuna and with the fight against Vegnagun. It was the mask that covered all of her insecurities so that she seemed like the sane one---the crying shoulder. Obviously, something was wrong with Yuna, but it seemed quite genetic that nobody in their family would have anything interrogated out of them. It just took patience and a smiling face. Even if that person was going through pain as well.
"Yo! We're here!" Tidus called over the intercom a few hours later. Though she had fallen asleep, Yuna still hadn't left her post at the windows. Rikku had just been wandering around the cabin, being careful to not drink excessively. Sure, it had been weeks since Nooj and Leblanc were married, but the sting of fighting with Gippal when she was hungover was still very evident. All the time Rikku had spent moping around the cabins allowed her to clear her mind, for the most part, and she had the opportunity to think things over.
Rikku realized that the Gippal thing wasn't going to just evaporate from her mind and go away forever. Unless she kept herself busy, it would eat away at her conscience, though she refused to do anything about it. No, there wasn't an Ice Elemental's chance in Bikanel that she'd confront him about anything. Because that would mean that she was giving him the time of day, and there was no way that was happening. If Gippal truly was innocent, he would have bothered to stick around and explain himself. Instead, he choked up and ran out...he must've had some faulty alibi and cornered himself into saying nothing.
Rikku smacked herself on the forehead. Stop thinking of him! she scolded herself as the Celcius began to land. The entire purpose of coming to Bikanel was to visit her father and dig in the desert. The work would keep her mind off of silly things, and keeping some of the earnings wasn't such a bad thing, either. Perhaps Yunie and Tidus wouldn't mind striking it rich, either! Yeah! This whole Bikanel thing was obviously the answer.
The Celcius landed, and Tidus was the first to bound off of the ship. He sniffed in the sweet desert air that only Home offered and smiled; it was nice to be back as well. Excluding his most recent trip, he really hadn't had the chance to see New Home/Bikanel since he...well...became a dream again. He, along with Rikku and Yuna, had watched from a distance as the entire place was forced to self-destruct during an invasion from Yevonites. That was the day that he and Rikku both endured one of the worst days of their lives. Rikku, of course, had to not only watch as many of her friends were killed during the struggle, but also the self-destruction of the place where she'd grown up. Tidus, on the other hand, had learned on that day the fate of Yuna. Well, what they thought to be the fate of Yuna. She was destined to die during the Final Summoning, proving that ignorance, indeed, had been bliss. Then, as they all stood on the airship's bridge, watching their lives fall apart, Tidus learned that Yuna was about to be forced into marrying the most despicable creature in existence. Not a good day.
Yuna came off of the airship next, using the railing on the ramp as a crutch . She looked as if she were about to be sick, but she did her best to keep her head up and smile; just like the normal Yuna would. This place was obviously full of sad memories for her loved ones, but she hoped that her presence would ease Tidus's troubled mind. She was alive, after all! Nobody had suspected at that time that it would be Tidus that would disappear with the Calm, but fate has always had a hand in these things. At long last, fate had actually brought them back together, but now there was something new for Yuna to worry about. Her eyes scanned the dark buildings, searching for...
Rikku finally came jogging out of the Celcius's bridge, eyeing her surroundings as well.
Hmm. I know that Pops's work tent was right over there, but where is he staying? Oh, cred.There's no way I can stay another night on that airship; I've got to find an inn...but how? Who would be up at this hour?
"YUNA!"
Some large being had bellowed Yuna's name in the nightime air, startling all three of them. Fortunately, it was no monster that came charging out of the shadows at them, but Brother instead. From within the surrounding Al Bhed buildings, lights were being turned on and miniscule shouts of protest were heard.
Yuna smiled poilitely and bowed a little, but she dared not speak in fear of vomiting on the large man. That just would not be very polite. Along with Brother came Cid and a few other Al Bhed mechanics. As the three were being greeted, Cid directed Rikku to a local inn.
"Ya see, just walk down this sidestreet, take a left, and knock on the back door of the second building. The guy's an insomniac; he'll be awake. How long are ya planning on staying, kiddo?" the man gruffly asked his daughter. Rikku bit her bottom lip as she watched Tidus and Yuna converse a few feet away.
"We might be here for a little while. I need to clear my mind and earn a little gil, so I figured digging was the way to go." she replied.
"Anything you wanna talk about?"
"Nah, I won't bother you with it tonight."
"Hey, you'd better come to me when you need it, ya little brat. I'm yer dad and I demand to know what's going on in that tiny, blonde head of yours."
With that, Cid clumsily attempted to put Rikku in his famous headlock, but she dodged it, laughing.
"You're getting pretty rough around the edges there, Pops! Too old to give your daughter a proper butt-kicking, huh?"
The two laughed; though the conversation would normally reflect the workings of a dysfunctional family, this was completely commonplace with the small Al Bhed clan. With that, Rikku began to walk towards the inn, already beginning to feel better.
"Come on, guys! I know the way to where we'll be staying!" She called over her shoulder, and Tidus caught up with her.
"Yuna said she's going to take a walk for awhile," Tidus replied, nodding backwards to Yuna. When Rikku gave him a questioning glance, he shrugged and added,
"She said she wants to get fully acquainted with the rebuilt city, and that she just needs to be by herself for a minute."
"You concerned?"
Tidus shook his head. "Nah, she's fine. Every so often she needs time to think, and I'd be a bad boyfriend not to give it to her, ya know?"
The two walked off towards the inn, leaving Yuna to inspect her surroundings. When she saw that the two were out of sight, she advanced towards a smaller building, where a man came stepped out of the shadows.
"Lady Yuna?"
"Hello Oaka...did you manage to find one?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'll let you be alone now, but don't you hesitate to call me if you ever need anything again. And if it's not saying too much, by the looks of it that may be sooner than later."
Yuna sighed, carefully taking the object from Oaka. She shelled out a few gil, which the merchant kindly refused to take. After they discussed the location of the inn, the two said their goodbyes and headed in opposite directions.
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"Sir, Nhadala is here to see you about those Scouts."
"Yeah, alright, send her in."
The following morning, Gippal sat in his office with his feet propped up on his desk. To most people, he would appear aloof and carefree, but if truth be told the past couple of weeks had been hell for him. While Rikku mentally scorned him for his 'brute actions', Gippal continued to wonder what he had done to upset the girl so much. Amazing that he would continue to go out of his way to please her, yet always end up being a failure in her eyes. It wasn't fair, and Gippal, being himself, wasn't ready sit there and take it anymore.
Nhadala knocked quietly and entered, finding her way to the chair across from his desk.
"Hey, Gippal, how's it going?"
"Eh...so-so. Yourself?"
"I'm doing alright, but I could definitely live without the stress of these old Scouts breaking down on us anymore."
Gippal rubbed his eyes tiredly and continued to lean back.
"Well, now is both the best and worst time to spring this on you, but I've been working on a new prototype that you may want to check out. It's brand new and has all the bells and whistles a Scout needs, plus some extensions and weather-proofing. Problem is, it's only been tested in Djose." he explained, and Nhadala stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"I don't know, there's a pretty big risk involved. I mean, Home is being rebuilt, so diggers are coming from everywhere to help out. Unfortunately, more labor means less room for mistakes, so..." she replied.
"What about this? I'll give you 200 of the old models and let you beta test about 75 of the new ones. Just pay me for the old prototype so there won't be any returns in our customer service department." Gippal joked, letting his chair slide back down. Nhadala smiled, nodded, and placed the appropriate amount of gil on his desk. As she began to walk out, something struck her and she turned to face her business partner.
"Oh, hey, I forgot to tell you! Guess who dropped in last night to work for me again?"
"Who?"
"Yuna, Tidus, and Rikku! It's going to be so nice to have them around again. Not only are they hard workers, they bring lots of morale to the Al Bheds trying to construct Home again. You should stop by and see them sometime."
Gippal froze in his chair. Rikku had run back home to be with Cid? Ironic how history tends to repeat itself; Gippal being the bad guy and Cid being the one who could talk his daughter into anything.
"Gippal? You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Nhadala; do me a favor and send up Kheko. He can run things here while I check out the progress in Bikanel."
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Meanwhile, in Bikanel, Rikku woke up with a whole new outlook on life. Today marked the beginning of a whole new her. She would forget everything that Gippal did to upset her, digging her way through the desert sands and establishing herself as one of the best Al Bhed mechanics/escavators in history. It all started on this beautiful, sunny day. Nothing could dampen her spirits...nothing.
"Good mooo-ooorning, sleepyheads! Come on! Let's get out there and earn some gil!" She called down the hall after poking her head outside of the hotel room's door. The three were the only people checked into the inn, seeing as mostly all of the people working on Home were already living there. When she was sure that her voice had woken up her friends, she shut the door and headed to the bathroom for her morning shower. Little did she know that as soon as she headed back inside, Yuna and Tidus poked their head out into the hall as well...from different rooms.
"Feeling any better?" Tidus asked quietly from across the hall. Yuna gave him a small smile, but shook her head.
"Not entirely...but I'll be ok. You know you didn't do anything wrong, don't you? I just had to gather my thoughts and fly solo for a night." she answered.
"It's all right. I'm going to go get ready; wanna talk about it later?"
"...That's fine..."
Tidus shut his door, and Yuna quickly scampered down the hall, letting herself into her cousin's room.
"Rikku!" she called inside, and heard the shower water running. "Rikku?" She knocked on the door but received no response. Counting to three, she quietly let herself in, where she was greeted by the blast of sound that was Rikku singing in the shower.
"Rikku!" Yuna shouted over the noise, and Rikku squealed.
"YUNIE! Why didn't you knock!"
When she received no response, she tried being a little quieter. "Yunie...what's the matter? Why have you been acting so strange lately?"
"Come look for yourself..."
"Geez, what is it that you have to tell me that you have to actually show me, you big poopie head?" Rikku griped as she stuck her soaking wet head out of the shower curtain. Yuna bit her lip for a moment, then slowly handed her the object she'd secretly bought from Oaka the previous night.
"Yunie...this is...this is a..."
She dropped it, mouth gaping open at the High Summoner, who sighed and nodded.
"A home test...and I'm pregnant."
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(A/N: Oooh! Gotcha there, didn't I? Didn't expect our elegant High Summoner to get knocked up, did ya? Sorry; that's being pretty blunt. At any rate, I once again apologize if this chapter wasn't what you expected, but I did try. If any of you have suggestions for the story, please do PM me and I'll do my best to work it into the outline that I've already written. Until then, thank you SO FREAKING MUCH for the reviews...you have no idea how happy they make me! -Lindsay-)