My thank yous
Ed Black: Now that you've learned to review on your own, I won't have to use the cattle prod. I'm sorry I made you cry but I'm also kinda happy because that means my story is kinda touching you. Oh NO!!! Not bad yaoi and feathers!
punkygal: Thank you! That is so sweet. I love all reviews even short ones!
mikeyownsyou: woo-hoo! I love this praise I am getting! People seem to like me
kingleby: you really think so? Wow! That's great! I was happy with how I wrote it but I always felt there was something missing.
Letselina: Yeah! You like doughnuts! You are awesome! I love that you are honest. Please be tough! I can't get better without tough love and constructive criticism.
Anna: Honestly, Tidus isn't in this fic much. It's been so long since I've played FFX that I just remember what kind of person he is. Actually my brothers played ffx and I played ffx-2. I actually like your idea and I really want to play ffx but I don't have a PS2, but my friend does so I'd have to borrow it from her. Anyway, thanks!
HAppy persom: I did! Heehee -
Beautiful Songstress: so vague yet so making me happy! My friends are always laughing at me because I talk weird like I use big words and I dunno. It's just who I am. I Like me -
dragonmaster: Yeah! I love making people happy! It's fun! I will try not to let you down but I wasn't as happy with this chappie cause it took so long to figure out what to write. Massively hard.
Orangesodaisyummy: I like your name! It's so fun! - I like orange soda too! Oh and thank you! I love it when people love my stories!
Master Theif: Oo wow I never thought it was suspenseful but that's cool! Yeah! I hope you like this.
Disclaimer: I don't own people places or anything final fantasy related. Sigh
A/N: This is not a major chapter but it was long enough when I finally got this first part done that I decided to go ahead and give you what would've been the first part of chapter 4 but now the second part will just be chapter 5. I am already started on chap 5 but just barely. Any thoughts/ideas? Review them to me! (or email)
Chapter 4: Confusion of the Heart
All of a sudden, the doors burst open and Rikku and Gippal were bathed in a pool of soft white light. Rikku quickly drew away from Gippal skipping back a few steps. She could still feel the way his fingers had trailed across her sides as he reluctantly let her go. 'Who the heck is out here, when there's a party raging on the inside?' Rikku thought to herself, halfway annoyed and halfway confused. But the confusion wasn't based on only who this crazy person was. It was also wondering what had made Gippal kiss her. Sure, she liked Gippal, but Gippal didn't see her as anything but a bratty little girl. At least, that's what Rikku had believed.
But Rikku's thoughts were interrupted as a tall blonde with 6-inch stilettos and wearing just enough clothing to keep her from getting arrested stumbled out into the pale-lit road that was in front of the cliff Rikku and Gippal had been standing on.
"HEY!" Leblanc slurred skipping tiltily towards Gippal. "You two," she said careening drunkenly into him and knocking him over. "Oops, sorry Gippy-poo, love!" She giggled as she rolled off of Gippal nearly falling out of her miniature, very-low-v-neck dress. She fell back on her butt as she tried to get up and instead decided it was better for her to just sit there. "Hey, will you two give me a ride home? Noojie-woojie says he can't for some reason that has to do with the Youth League and Paine had this dumb excuse about her being married for the first time today. I mean, if she had her sword I think she might of decapitated me. Even without that sword, she's deadly. If Baralai hadn't stopped her, ooh I will get her someday. And then, of course, Yuna and Tidy is missing!" Leblanc looked up at Gippal, who by this time had stood up and was standing about ten feet from Rikku. Leblanc noticed both were very shifty and nervous. "Puh-lease!" she pleaded in baby talk, "I need a wide!(A/N it's actually ride but to go with the baby talk, it sounds like wide)"
"No," Rikku and Gippal said in unison, then looked surprised at each other. Gippal only looked mildly surprised, while Rikku looked utterly flabbergasted. Gippal chuckled at the look on Rikku's face, forgetting that Leblanc was still there. But he was slammed back to Spira when Leblanc started talking again.
"Oh fine," Leblanc said in an oh-so-innocent voice turning around to head back inside. "I'll just go tell Paine and Baralai and Noojie and the rest of the party what I saw youz twos doing out here," she added in a completely evil and slightly sadistic voice.
"NO!" Rikku screeched, practically throwing herself at Leblanc to make sure she didn't go inside. She grabbed Leblanc's shoulder but Leblanc being as drunk as she was promptly fell over. She toppled backwards from Rikku's light tug falling flat on her ass limbs splaying out all over the ground. "Oopsies! Sorry Leblanc. Anyway, I guess we can take you home," she said giving in to the inevitable. "Besides," she muttered under her breath to Gippal, "it's not like we have a choice." Rikku switched back to her cheery voice and headed towards the doors, "I just have to go tell someone. I mean if we just leave, people are going to assume...um, things. Things that we don't want assumed," she said blushing and running back into the party.
"Fine Rikku, spoil my fun!" Gippal teased walking over to help Leblanc to her feet. "We'll meet you back at my airship.
When Gippal finally reached the airship, he was banged up and bruised, he was practically dragging Leblanc, and to top it all off Rikku was already there and she had changed. Instead of the dress she had worn for the wedding she had changed into her thief dressphere.
"What the heck took you so long?" Rikku asked feeling slightly annoyed.
Gippal shot Rikku a death glare and started speaking in the type of voice that says you're about to crack. "She kept wanting to go back to the party! So, then I'd turn around and try to take her back to the party. And do you know what she did? Hmm? She hit me over the head and in several other places with that damn gigantic fan of hers!"
Rikku tried to keep a straight face, silently giggling but not wanting to send Gippal off the deep end. She tried glaring as if annoyed but she could feel her face almost cracking with the effort so she turned around to hide the smile that was forming and started skipping to the airship. Clack, clack, clack. She heard the noise about three seconds before she realized what it was. Before Rikku could turn around to see what was making that wretched sound, she was hit over the head with a massive fan. "What the..." Rikku yelled before Leblanc blazed by her, heels still going clack, clack, clack.
When Leblanc finally reached the door of Gippal's airship she jumped up and down and yelled. "Woot! I WIN!"
After boarding Gippal's airship, The Rysbyt, (A/N: This translates into English and I know it's weird, but I used only but not all of the letters I have picked up on to make this name and if anyone guesses, I will explain why I called it this) Leblanc passed out snoring loudly and obnoxiously while occasionally snorting and drooling. Gippal and Rikku both ignored her. Gippal sat down comfortably in the driver's seat finally feeling as if he belonged. He loved flying this thing. It was his dream airship. It looked just like the Celsius except that it was dark blue with black and yellow detailing. And, it was much better built. It would never fall apart or even show signs of wear as long as it belonged to Gippal. Not to mention it was so much faster. This thing was built for speed but rarely got to show it off.
As Gippal was relishing in the comfort of his airship, Rikku made herself comfy in the co-pilot seat. She curled up in the seat, hugging her knees as Gippal started the ship and lifted into the air. After about a half-hour, Rikku began nodding off, her head lulling to and fro as if she were in a dreamlike state. But Gippal knew she wasn't. The ever-constant mutterings about how obnoxious Leblanc's snore were and what she was planning on doing to shut her up reminded him she was awake. By and by, however, her mutterings died away, her eyes closed, and her head rested on her knees, face hidden from the world.
When they had finally reached Guadosalam, Gippal had decided, knowing what it was like to wake Rikku, that it would be easier to wake Leblanc. He turned out to be wrong. Leblanc, it so happened, liked to flail about as she was woken up and she just had to still have that darn ginormous fan still clutched in her hand. So, in waking up Leblanc, Gippal received many more injuries and bruises in addition to the ones he had acquired earlier that night. After about eight tries and thirty whacks, Gippal had had it. He let loose.
"LEBLANC, DAMN IT! WILL YOU GET OFF MY AIRSHIP!" he yelled, unable to handle the abuse anymore.
At this, Leblanc finally opened her eyes. "Fine, love. All you had to do is ask."
This annoyed Gippal very much. After 'escorting' her off his airship, Gippal went and kneeled in front of Rikku. From experience, Gippal knew that Rikku punched the first thing that touched her in the morning most of the time. So, he grabbed her wrists quickly and whispered her name. "Rikku? Rikku, will you wake up for a second, please?"
"What is it, Gippal?" Rikku murmured, rolling her head from her knees to her shoulder, still half-asleep.
"Rix, do you think you can drive us home? I think if I tried, I'd fall asleep and we'd end up somewhere near Mt. Gagazet,"
"No," she muttered grumpily. "I don't wanna. Too tired, go away," she whispered trailing off back into what seemed to be sleep.
"Alright fine," he said to Rikku then addressed himself. "What are we going to do now?"
At this question, Rikku's head shot up off her shoulder, eyes wide. She now seemed fully and completely alert. "Y'know," she said with a hint of mischief. "There is an Inn (A/N: or Ninj as my friend would say; above the doorway at the inn in Guadosalam it looks like it says ninj) in Guadosalam. We could stay there!"
"Well I guess that's better then staying here in the ship," Gippal said thinking that Rikku was way too peppy for this time of night. (A/N: I'm thinking it's about 2:30; not very late for me but ah well) Also, way too peppy for someone who was supposedly too tired to drive back.
"Yeah," Rikku squeaked. "I absolutely love staying at hotels and inns and stuff! I don't know why, it's just fun! Woo-hoo!"
As they walked into the inn, Rikku saw a couch and a big cushy armchair. She promptly plopped down on it and motioned for Gippal to get the room arranged.
Gippal scowled and walked up to the counter. He leaned forward on his elbows and rang the bell. As the minutes dragged by, Gippal's eyes began to sag with exhaustion. To keep from falling asleep and to call for the innkeeper again, Gippal rang the bell loudly.
"Just a minute!" he heard man's grumpy, sleepy voice yell. "I'll be out as soon as I can find my pants!"
Gippal just stood there, numbly waiting for some sign of life. A few minutes later, a man wearing green overalls, a purple undershirt, purple fuzzy slippers, and a brown overcoat came walking out to his position behind the desk. Gippal guessed he must look exactly like this man: sleepy, grouchy, and with a five o'clock shadow.
"So," the man said after blinking and rubbing his tired dark brown eyes. "What d'ya need?"
Gippal didn't know why the man asked this question. It was pretty obvious why you went to an inn. What else would the man think he was there for? Gippal didn't even want to think about that. "Well, I'm looking for somewhere for me and her," he said dully jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Rikku, "to sleep."
"Well, you're in luck. We have one room left," he said eyeing Gippal and looking past him towards Rikku.
"Only one room?" Gippal said glancing back at Rikku surprised to find that she had fallen asleep on the overstuffed purple couch. "Well, I guess we have no choice. And besides, she won't find out until morning."
"Alright, here's your key," he said handing a small brass key with a red ribbon tied on it to Gippal. He turned away and was about to walk through the door he had come in through and glanced back at Gippal. "Oh, and you're in Room 2."
"Well, Cid's Girl," Gippal said walking up to Rikku and picking her up. "Looks like we're stuck together for the night."
He smiled to himself and walked towards room 2, strangely the only room he saw in the whole inn. (A/N: I actually don't remember what the inn looks like or the innkeeper. So, if I'm completely off just pretend that the innkeeper sold it to someone else and they remodeled. Sorry!)
Rikku woke up the next day in another strange room. 'How weird,' she thought. 'This is the second time in a week that I've woken up without a clue to where I am. I should really start paying more attention when I fall asleep.'
The room was sparsely furnished but clean. It had a woven rug, a wooden bed, a wooden desk, a copper rimmed mirror, a commsphere, and a giant, overstuffed, dark-blue armchair. It also had a private bathroom, of which Rikku was glad. She went to the bathroom and returned to the bed, shivering. The room was cold but the bed was warm. Rikku was still in her thief outfit so she wasn't wearing enough to keep her warm. As she got into the bed and wiggled in to get comfortable she hit something. 'No,' she thought. 'Scratch that. Not something, somebody.' The somebody rolled over to face her and smirked. Even in his sleep he would smirk.
Rikku's mind wandered, trying to figure out why she was sleeping with Gippal. If something had happened she wouldn't have her clothes on, so she wasn't very worried. Suddenly it hit her. Everything hit her. Paine and Baralai's wedding, Real Emotion, 1000 Words, dancing with Gippal, running away from Gippal, kissing Gippal, drunken Leblanc, and falling asleep in the lobby. As soon as she had figured out what was happening, Rikku looked at Gippal to see his eye blink open slowly.
"Gippal," Rikku said. "Did you call Yunie or Paine and tell them we were staying in Guadosalam?"
"What?" Gippal said as if this were some strange request. Then he gathered his thoughts probably also trying to remember what had happened the night before. Then it obviously clicked. He smiled and looked at Rikku apologetically. "No, I didn't even think about it. After I carried you in, I fell right asleep. I was so tired."
"Oh," Rikku said blushing at the thought that Gippal had carried her into the room. "Well then, I guess someone should call them."
"You can," Gippal said burrowing back into the covers obviously trying to go back to sleep.
"I'll call them but don't go back to sleep! I'm tired too!" Rikku said beating Gippal upside the head with her pillow. "Besides, it's already eleven. We have to get out of here."
"Fine," he said sitting up and glaring at Rikku and after a moment, he broke into a small grin. He reached out and grabbed Rikku around the waist pulling her into him.
"Gippal!?" Rikku asked, massively surprised. "What're you—" But she broke off as Gippal began to tickle her relentlessly. She broke into a fit of giggles and screams. "Stop! Oh, please #haw# please #heehee# stop #giggle#."
Gippal let go of her and she scrambled to the edge of the bed grabbing the commsphere and catching her breath. (A/N: In this fic, the commspheres work like telephones but you can see who you're talking to) She punched Baralai's number into the commsphere and had to wait quite a while before Yuna finally picked up wearing only a sheet in toga-style.
"So you're still at Baralai's?" Rikku greeted her.
"Yeah. I'm still at Baralai's and so is Tidus. But you and that person behind you aren't here," she said raising her eyebrows at Rikku. Then she addressed the person behind Rikku, "Hi Gippal!"
"Hey Yuna," Gippal said in his ever-so-calm voice. But Rikku saw right through this act. She knew he was as embarrassed as she was so she blushed enough for the both of them.
"So?" Yuna said. "Where are you, what happened, why are you there?"
"Well first of all, it's not what it looks like. We're in Guadosalam. We had to bring Leblanc home. She was completely smashed! I mean, she was skipping and stumbling around in those stilettos of hers and she kept hitting us with that damn giant fan of hers!" Rikku complained in a whiny voice.
"At least you only got hit once!" Gippal said annoyed and imitating Rikku's voice. "I bet I got bruises from her. In fact my whole body feels like one big bruise."
"Oh well. Anyway Yuna, so we were too tired to keep going and decided to stay here. We'll probably just go back to Djose after this, though. Right Gippal?" she said turning to Gippal and nodded. "Tell Paine and Tidus and Baralai we said sorry and bye!"
"Alright, see you sometime! Bye Rikku!" she said smiling and waving.
"Buh-bye Yunie!" Rikku said waving back and shutting off the commsphere.
Rikku put the commsphere down and turning back to Gippal, sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed. "So, Gippal. You ready to go?"
"Cid's girl?" Gippal said not looking at Rikku but everywhere else in the room. "Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Yeah, of course," Rikku said nervously. "And my name's Rikku," she muttered under her breath.
"And?" Gippal asked prodding Rikku, trying to get her to start the conversation.
"And what?" Rikku said feigning stupidity.
"And, what do you think we should do?" he asked laying back down and staring at the ceiling.
"I don't know," Rikku said also avoiding eye contact.
"Well..." Gippal said obviously trying to think of some way to jump- start this conversation. "How do you feel about me?"
"Like I tried to tell you last night before you kissed me. I don't know," Rikku said plainly and with distinction yet lacking any sort of emotion except perhaps confusion.
"Rikku," Gippal said getting out from under the covers and moving so that he was sitting next to Rikku on the end of the bed.
"Gippal," Rikku said holding out a hand to cut off anything he was about to say. She raised her face so that she could look Gippal in the eyes. "Before you say anything else...I want to know exactly how you feel about me. Exactly."
Gippal sighed and looked at Rikku. "Well, I think you're a bratty little girl who always gets her way, is great with machina, and is much too happy for her own good," he said receiving dagger-filled glares for the first part, happiness and thanks for the compliment, and confusion at the last part. "But for some reason, Rikku, I like all of that about you. With anyone else it would be unbearable and annoying as hell. With you it works."
"Gippal," Rikku said smiling once again. "That's not what I meant. I mean, do you like me? Do you hate me? Do you love me?"
"Okay...in order. Yes, of course I like you. If I didn't like you I wouldn't put up with you. You are a great friend. I could never hate you. It's just too hard to hate someone who's always so happy. And I would prefer not to answer that last question. I mean, I just don't know how I feel about you in that way." Gippal had said all of this in a great rush.
"So, what should we do, now?" Rikku asked with a mix of anxiousness and nervousness.
"Wait a minute!" Gippal protested. "I told you how I felt. Now you have to tell me how you feel!"
"What?! Why?!" Rikku said trying desperately to think of a way to get out of answering his questions.
"Because, that's how it works," Gippal explained as if this were the most obvious thing in Spira.
"Oh fine," Rikku said giving in. She thought for a moment. "Alright, I think that you're an obnoxious, stubborn, self-absorbed jerk. But, I still like you despite and maybe because of that. I know I like you but I don't know if I love you. I mean, I don't think I love you but I might like you in that direction. GRRR!" she growled at herself. "I just don't know," she said sighing and looking down.
Gippal smirked and stood up. "Alright, let's go."
"Wait!" Rikku said confused beyond all measure. "I thought we were going to figure out what to do! I mean, you're the one that wanted to talk about it. What're we going to do?"
"Well," Gippal said reaching behind his head and scratching his neck. "I guess we'll just play it by ear. If we end up together, great! If we end up kissing again, even better! If we don't end up together, it wasn't meant to be." He paused holding out a hand for Rikku. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, sounds good!" Rikku said pulling herself to her feet and skipping out the door.
A/N: This is not a major chapter but it was long enough when I finally got this first part done that I decided to go ahead and give you what would've been the first part of chapter 4 but now the second part will just be chapter 5. I am already started on chap 5 but just barely. Any thoughts/ideas? Review them to me! (or email)
Ed Black: Now that you've learned to review on your own, I won't have to use the cattle prod. I'm sorry I made you cry but I'm also kinda happy because that means my story is kinda touching you. Oh NO!!! Not bad yaoi and feathers!
punkygal: Thank you! That is so sweet. I love all reviews even short ones!
mikeyownsyou: woo-hoo! I love this praise I am getting! People seem to like me
kingleby: you really think so? Wow! That's great! I was happy with how I wrote it but I always felt there was something missing.
Letselina: Yeah! You like doughnuts! You are awesome! I love that you are honest. Please be tough! I can't get better without tough love and constructive criticism.
Anna: Honestly, Tidus isn't in this fic much. It's been so long since I've played FFX that I just remember what kind of person he is. Actually my brothers played ffx and I played ffx-2. I actually like your idea and I really want to play ffx but I don't have a PS2, but my friend does so I'd have to borrow it from her. Anyway, thanks!
HAppy persom: I did! Heehee -
Beautiful Songstress: so vague yet so making me happy! My friends are always laughing at me because I talk weird like I use big words and I dunno. It's just who I am. I Like me -
dragonmaster: Yeah! I love making people happy! It's fun! I will try not to let you down but I wasn't as happy with this chappie cause it took so long to figure out what to write. Massively hard.
Orangesodaisyummy: I like your name! It's so fun! - I like orange soda too! Oh and thank you! I love it when people love my stories!
Master Theif: Oo wow I never thought it was suspenseful but that's cool! Yeah! I hope you like this.
Disclaimer: I don't own people places or anything final fantasy related. Sigh
A/N: This is not a major chapter but it was long enough when I finally got this first part done that I decided to go ahead and give you what would've been the first part of chapter 4 but now the second part will just be chapter 5. I am already started on chap 5 but just barely. Any thoughts/ideas? Review them to me! (or email)
Chapter 4: Confusion of the Heart
All of a sudden, the doors burst open and Rikku and Gippal were bathed in a pool of soft white light. Rikku quickly drew away from Gippal skipping back a few steps. She could still feel the way his fingers had trailed across her sides as he reluctantly let her go. 'Who the heck is out here, when there's a party raging on the inside?' Rikku thought to herself, halfway annoyed and halfway confused. But the confusion wasn't based on only who this crazy person was. It was also wondering what had made Gippal kiss her. Sure, she liked Gippal, but Gippal didn't see her as anything but a bratty little girl. At least, that's what Rikku had believed.
But Rikku's thoughts were interrupted as a tall blonde with 6-inch stilettos and wearing just enough clothing to keep her from getting arrested stumbled out into the pale-lit road that was in front of the cliff Rikku and Gippal had been standing on.
"HEY!" Leblanc slurred skipping tiltily towards Gippal. "You two," she said careening drunkenly into him and knocking him over. "Oops, sorry Gippy-poo, love!" She giggled as she rolled off of Gippal nearly falling out of her miniature, very-low-v-neck dress. She fell back on her butt as she tried to get up and instead decided it was better for her to just sit there. "Hey, will you two give me a ride home? Noojie-woojie says he can't for some reason that has to do with the Youth League and Paine had this dumb excuse about her being married for the first time today. I mean, if she had her sword I think she might of decapitated me. Even without that sword, she's deadly. If Baralai hadn't stopped her, ooh I will get her someday. And then, of course, Yuna and Tidy is missing!" Leblanc looked up at Gippal, who by this time had stood up and was standing about ten feet from Rikku. Leblanc noticed both were very shifty and nervous. "Puh-lease!" she pleaded in baby talk, "I need a wide!(A/N it's actually ride but to go with the baby talk, it sounds like wide)"
"No," Rikku and Gippal said in unison, then looked surprised at each other. Gippal only looked mildly surprised, while Rikku looked utterly flabbergasted. Gippal chuckled at the look on Rikku's face, forgetting that Leblanc was still there. But he was slammed back to Spira when Leblanc started talking again.
"Oh fine," Leblanc said in an oh-so-innocent voice turning around to head back inside. "I'll just go tell Paine and Baralai and Noojie and the rest of the party what I saw youz twos doing out here," she added in a completely evil and slightly sadistic voice.
"NO!" Rikku screeched, practically throwing herself at Leblanc to make sure she didn't go inside. She grabbed Leblanc's shoulder but Leblanc being as drunk as she was promptly fell over. She toppled backwards from Rikku's light tug falling flat on her ass limbs splaying out all over the ground. "Oopsies! Sorry Leblanc. Anyway, I guess we can take you home," she said giving in to the inevitable. "Besides," she muttered under her breath to Gippal, "it's not like we have a choice." Rikku switched back to her cheery voice and headed towards the doors, "I just have to go tell someone. I mean if we just leave, people are going to assume...um, things. Things that we don't want assumed," she said blushing and running back into the party.
"Fine Rikku, spoil my fun!" Gippal teased walking over to help Leblanc to her feet. "We'll meet you back at my airship.
When Gippal finally reached the airship, he was banged up and bruised, he was practically dragging Leblanc, and to top it all off Rikku was already there and she had changed. Instead of the dress she had worn for the wedding she had changed into her thief dressphere.
"What the heck took you so long?" Rikku asked feeling slightly annoyed.
Gippal shot Rikku a death glare and started speaking in the type of voice that says you're about to crack. "She kept wanting to go back to the party! So, then I'd turn around and try to take her back to the party. And do you know what she did? Hmm? She hit me over the head and in several other places with that damn gigantic fan of hers!"
Rikku tried to keep a straight face, silently giggling but not wanting to send Gippal off the deep end. She tried glaring as if annoyed but she could feel her face almost cracking with the effort so she turned around to hide the smile that was forming and started skipping to the airship. Clack, clack, clack. She heard the noise about three seconds before she realized what it was. Before Rikku could turn around to see what was making that wretched sound, she was hit over the head with a massive fan. "What the..." Rikku yelled before Leblanc blazed by her, heels still going clack, clack, clack.
When Leblanc finally reached the door of Gippal's airship she jumped up and down and yelled. "Woot! I WIN!"
After boarding Gippal's airship, The Rysbyt, (A/N: This translates into English and I know it's weird, but I used only but not all of the letters I have picked up on to make this name and if anyone guesses, I will explain why I called it this) Leblanc passed out snoring loudly and obnoxiously while occasionally snorting and drooling. Gippal and Rikku both ignored her. Gippal sat down comfortably in the driver's seat finally feeling as if he belonged. He loved flying this thing. It was his dream airship. It looked just like the Celsius except that it was dark blue with black and yellow detailing. And, it was much better built. It would never fall apart or even show signs of wear as long as it belonged to Gippal. Not to mention it was so much faster. This thing was built for speed but rarely got to show it off.
As Gippal was relishing in the comfort of his airship, Rikku made herself comfy in the co-pilot seat. She curled up in the seat, hugging her knees as Gippal started the ship and lifted into the air. After about a half-hour, Rikku began nodding off, her head lulling to and fro as if she were in a dreamlike state. But Gippal knew she wasn't. The ever-constant mutterings about how obnoxious Leblanc's snore were and what she was planning on doing to shut her up reminded him she was awake. By and by, however, her mutterings died away, her eyes closed, and her head rested on her knees, face hidden from the world.
When they had finally reached Guadosalam, Gippal had decided, knowing what it was like to wake Rikku, that it would be easier to wake Leblanc. He turned out to be wrong. Leblanc, it so happened, liked to flail about as she was woken up and she just had to still have that darn ginormous fan still clutched in her hand. So, in waking up Leblanc, Gippal received many more injuries and bruises in addition to the ones he had acquired earlier that night. After about eight tries and thirty whacks, Gippal had had it. He let loose.
"LEBLANC, DAMN IT! WILL YOU GET OFF MY AIRSHIP!" he yelled, unable to handle the abuse anymore.
At this, Leblanc finally opened her eyes. "Fine, love. All you had to do is ask."
This annoyed Gippal very much. After 'escorting' her off his airship, Gippal went and kneeled in front of Rikku. From experience, Gippal knew that Rikku punched the first thing that touched her in the morning most of the time. So, he grabbed her wrists quickly and whispered her name. "Rikku? Rikku, will you wake up for a second, please?"
"What is it, Gippal?" Rikku murmured, rolling her head from her knees to her shoulder, still half-asleep.
"Rix, do you think you can drive us home? I think if I tried, I'd fall asleep and we'd end up somewhere near Mt. Gagazet,"
"No," she muttered grumpily. "I don't wanna. Too tired, go away," she whispered trailing off back into what seemed to be sleep.
"Alright fine," he said to Rikku then addressed himself. "What are we going to do now?"
At this question, Rikku's head shot up off her shoulder, eyes wide. She now seemed fully and completely alert. "Y'know," she said with a hint of mischief. "There is an Inn (A/N: or Ninj as my friend would say; above the doorway at the inn in Guadosalam it looks like it says ninj) in Guadosalam. We could stay there!"
"Well I guess that's better then staying here in the ship," Gippal said thinking that Rikku was way too peppy for this time of night. (A/N: I'm thinking it's about 2:30; not very late for me but ah well) Also, way too peppy for someone who was supposedly too tired to drive back.
"Yeah," Rikku squeaked. "I absolutely love staying at hotels and inns and stuff! I don't know why, it's just fun! Woo-hoo!"
As they walked into the inn, Rikku saw a couch and a big cushy armchair. She promptly plopped down on it and motioned for Gippal to get the room arranged.
Gippal scowled and walked up to the counter. He leaned forward on his elbows and rang the bell. As the minutes dragged by, Gippal's eyes began to sag with exhaustion. To keep from falling asleep and to call for the innkeeper again, Gippal rang the bell loudly.
"Just a minute!" he heard man's grumpy, sleepy voice yell. "I'll be out as soon as I can find my pants!"
Gippal just stood there, numbly waiting for some sign of life. A few minutes later, a man wearing green overalls, a purple undershirt, purple fuzzy slippers, and a brown overcoat came walking out to his position behind the desk. Gippal guessed he must look exactly like this man: sleepy, grouchy, and with a five o'clock shadow.
"So," the man said after blinking and rubbing his tired dark brown eyes. "What d'ya need?"
Gippal didn't know why the man asked this question. It was pretty obvious why you went to an inn. What else would the man think he was there for? Gippal didn't even want to think about that. "Well, I'm looking for somewhere for me and her," he said dully jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Rikku, "to sleep."
"Well, you're in luck. We have one room left," he said eyeing Gippal and looking past him towards Rikku.
"Only one room?" Gippal said glancing back at Rikku surprised to find that she had fallen asleep on the overstuffed purple couch. "Well, I guess we have no choice. And besides, she won't find out until morning."
"Alright, here's your key," he said handing a small brass key with a red ribbon tied on it to Gippal. He turned away and was about to walk through the door he had come in through and glanced back at Gippal. "Oh, and you're in Room 2."
"Well, Cid's Girl," Gippal said walking up to Rikku and picking her up. "Looks like we're stuck together for the night."
He smiled to himself and walked towards room 2, strangely the only room he saw in the whole inn. (A/N: I actually don't remember what the inn looks like or the innkeeper. So, if I'm completely off just pretend that the innkeeper sold it to someone else and they remodeled. Sorry!)
Rikku woke up the next day in another strange room. 'How weird,' she thought. 'This is the second time in a week that I've woken up without a clue to where I am. I should really start paying more attention when I fall asleep.'
The room was sparsely furnished but clean. It had a woven rug, a wooden bed, a wooden desk, a copper rimmed mirror, a commsphere, and a giant, overstuffed, dark-blue armchair. It also had a private bathroom, of which Rikku was glad. She went to the bathroom and returned to the bed, shivering. The room was cold but the bed was warm. Rikku was still in her thief outfit so she wasn't wearing enough to keep her warm. As she got into the bed and wiggled in to get comfortable she hit something. 'No,' she thought. 'Scratch that. Not something, somebody.' The somebody rolled over to face her and smirked. Even in his sleep he would smirk.
Rikku's mind wandered, trying to figure out why she was sleeping with Gippal. If something had happened she wouldn't have her clothes on, so she wasn't very worried. Suddenly it hit her. Everything hit her. Paine and Baralai's wedding, Real Emotion, 1000 Words, dancing with Gippal, running away from Gippal, kissing Gippal, drunken Leblanc, and falling asleep in the lobby. As soon as she had figured out what was happening, Rikku looked at Gippal to see his eye blink open slowly.
"Gippal," Rikku said. "Did you call Yunie or Paine and tell them we were staying in Guadosalam?"
"What?" Gippal said as if this were some strange request. Then he gathered his thoughts probably also trying to remember what had happened the night before. Then it obviously clicked. He smiled and looked at Rikku apologetically. "No, I didn't even think about it. After I carried you in, I fell right asleep. I was so tired."
"Oh," Rikku said blushing at the thought that Gippal had carried her into the room. "Well then, I guess someone should call them."
"You can," Gippal said burrowing back into the covers obviously trying to go back to sleep.
"I'll call them but don't go back to sleep! I'm tired too!" Rikku said beating Gippal upside the head with her pillow. "Besides, it's already eleven. We have to get out of here."
"Fine," he said sitting up and glaring at Rikku and after a moment, he broke into a small grin. He reached out and grabbed Rikku around the waist pulling her into him.
"Gippal!?" Rikku asked, massively surprised. "What're you—" But she broke off as Gippal began to tickle her relentlessly. She broke into a fit of giggles and screams. "Stop! Oh, please #haw# please #heehee# stop #giggle#."
Gippal let go of her and she scrambled to the edge of the bed grabbing the commsphere and catching her breath. (A/N: In this fic, the commspheres work like telephones but you can see who you're talking to) She punched Baralai's number into the commsphere and had to wait quite a while before Yuna finally picked up wearing only a sheet in toga-style.
"So you're still at Baralai's?" Rikku greeted her.
"Yeah. I'm still at Baralai's and so is Tidus. But you and that person behind you aren't here," she said raising her eyebrows at Rikku. Then she addressed the person behind Rikku, "Hi Gippal!"
"Hey Yuna," Gippal said in his ever-so-calm voice. But Rikku saw right through this act. She knew he was as embarrassed as she was so she blushed enough for the both of them.
"So?" Yuna said. "Where are you, what happened, why are you there?"
"Well first of all, it's not what it looks like. We're in Guadosalam. We had to bring Leblanc home. She was completely smashed! I mean, she was skipping and stumbling around in those stilettos of hers and she kept hitting us with that damn giant fan of hers!" Rikku complained in a whiny voice.
"At least you only got hit once!" Gippal said annoyed and imitating Rikku's voice. "I bet I got bruises from her. In fact my whole body feels like one big bruise."
"Oh well. Anyway Yuna, so we were too tired to keep going and decided to stay here. We'll probably just go back to Djose after this, though. Right Gippal?" she said turning to Gippal and nodded. "Tell Paine and Tidus and Baralai we said sorry and bye!"
"Alright, see you sometime! Bye Rikku!" she said smiling and waving.
"Buh-bye Yunie!" Rikku said waving back and shutting off the commsphere.
Rikku put the commsphere down and turning back to Gippal, sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed. "So, Gippal. You ready to go?"
"Cid's girl?" Gippal said not looking at Rikku but everywhere else in the room. "Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Yeah, of course," Rikku said nervously. "And my name's Rikku," she muttered under her breath.
"And?" Gippal asked prodding Rikku, trying to get her to start the conversation.
"And what?" Rikku said feigning stupidity.
"And, what do you think we should do?" he asked laying back down and staring at the ceiling.
"I don't know," Rikku said also avoiding eye contact.
"Well..." Gippal said obviously trying to think of some way to jump- start this conversation. "How do you feel about me?"
"Like I tried to tell you last night before you kissed me. I don't know," Rikku said plainly and with distinction yet lacking any sort of emotion except perhaps confusion.
"Rikku," Gippal said getting out from under the covers and moving so that he was sitting next to Rikku on the end of the bed.
"Gippal," Rikku said holding out a hand to cut off anything he was about to say. She raised her face so that she could look Gippal in the eyes. "Before you say anything else...I want to know exactly how you feel about me. Exactly."
Gippal sighed and looked at Rikku. "Well, I think you're a bratty little girl who always gets her way, is great with machina, and is much too happy for her own good," he said receiving dagger-filled glares for the first part, happiness and thanks for the compliment, and confusion at the last part. "But for some reason, Rikku, I like all of that about you. With anyone else it would be unbearable and annoying as hell. With you it works."
"Gippal," Rikku said smiling once again. "That's not what I meant. I mean, do you like me? Do you hate me? Do you love me?"
"Okay...in order. Yes, of course I like you. If I didn't like you I wouldn't put up with you. You are a great friend. I could never hate you. It's just too hard to hate someone who's always so happy. And I would prefer not to answer that last question. I mean, I just don't know how I feel about you in that way." Gippal had said all of this in a great rush.
"So, what should we do, now?" Rikku asked with a mix of anxiousness and nervousness.
"Wait a minute!" Gippal protested. "I told you how I felt. Now you have to tell me how you feel!"
"What?! Why?!" Rikku said trying desperately to think of a way to get out of answering his questions.
"Because, that's how it works," Gippal explained as if this were the most obvious thing in Spira.
"Oh fine," Rikku said giving in. She thought for a moment. "Alright, I think that you're an obnoxious, stubborn, self-absorbed jerk. But, I still like you despite and maybe because of that. I know I like you but I don't know if I love you. I mean, I don't think I love you but I might like you in that direction. GRRR!" she growled at herself. "I just don't know," she said sighing and looking down.
Gippal smirked and stood up. "Alright, let's go."
"Wait!" Rikku said confused beyond all measure. "I thought we were going to figure out what to do! I mean, you're the one that wanted to talk about it. What're we going to do?"
"Well," Gippal said reaching behind his head and scratching his neck. "I guess we'll just play it by ear. If we end up together, great! If we end up kissing again, even better! If we don't end up together, it wasn't meant to be." He paused holding out a hand for Rikku. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, sounds good!" Rikku said pulling herself to her feet and skipping out the door.
A/N: This is not a major chapter but it was long enough when I finally got this first part done that I decided to go ahead and give you what would've been the first part of chapter 4 but now the second part will just be chapter 5. I am already started on chap 5 but just barely. Any thoughts/ideas? Review them to me! (or email)