Here are my review replies! o-o (it won't let me make the carrot-thing above the six- so i'm doing this)
Ed Black: No way! I would never want Leblanc as a pet. Although I bet she would be amusing for a while. I dunno about that las part although it's possible
kingleby: I'm glad you like Leblanc. I had fun writing her. Oh and sorry but things get a little harder for them in this chappie. Hope you still like it.
Letselina: Happy Birthday! Have a cookie and another chappie! Okay now, down to business. The last chapter was a sort of filler. I needed to get them from he party back to Djose. Sorry if it wasn't very good. I'll admit I'm taking much to long to get into the problem. I mean this is the fifth chapter. But, for lack of problems and plots earlier I've generously given you two problems in this chappie! Hope you enjoy!
xpunky-galx: I love leblanc in this chappie. Normally she just annoys me. Thankyou for pumping me up! Huggles for you!
Disclaimer: I own very little. Not the characters, not their backgrounds, not names, not anything except for the plot (yes, you get a plot in this chapter) and Ishka (small meaningless character for now. I haven't decided if she'll become important later but I doubt it)
Al Bhed translations: (( translation here ))
Chapter 5: Learning, Cheating, Stealing
When Gippal and Rikku returned to Djose, Gippal went straight back to work. He had a meeting with Nhadala and some of the other higher-ranked diggers. Since Rikku wasn't needed in the meeting and since she couldn't do anything to the ancient machina without Gippal there, he gave her the afternoon off.
But Rikku didn't take the time to relax or sleep. First, Rikku went to Gippal's office to use his commsphere to call Paine. She really needed to get one in her room. Luckily, the meeting Gippal had gone to was in one of the larger meeting rooms. So, she called Paine and apologized for leaving the wedding reception early. She explained about Leblanc but left out the kiss and the blackmail. Paine gave Rikku a look that said she knew Rikku wasn't telling the whole story. Paine knew Rikku didn't like Leblanc enough to just do something for her without a reason. But Rikku didn't elaborate, so they hung up.
After sitting in Gippal's giant, black, leather office chair for a few minutes, Rikku decided to wander and figure out what else they did in the Machine Faction, besides figure out the purpose of some giant, old machina. So she walked out of Gippal's office and turned left down a dingy hallway lined with doors. She knew to the right were lodgings and to the left were workrooms. The first door she opened showed a room full of sweaty men repairing machina. So did all of the other rooms. Every time she opened the door, the men looked to her and smiled, winked, or waved. After about ten rooms of sweaty, horny men she came to another door. This time she barely opened it but instead of men, she found a bunch of giggling little kids.
'Kids?' Rikku thought immensely confused. 'I didn't know Gippal let kids in the Machine Faction.'
"Excuse me," a female voice whispered from behind her.
Rikku pulled her head out of the doorway and spun around, looking as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. When she looked to find out who had been talking, she found a woman about two inches taller than Rikku with blonde shoulder-length hair and dark blue eyes. She was wearing a purple knee-length skirt, a light blue, long-sleeve shirt, and a long, loose, light-purple vest.
"Hello," Rikku said kindly, grinning at the lady. She seemed only a year or so older than Rikku.
"Hi. I'm Ishka...and you're Rikku, right?" she replied, quirking a dainty eyebrow at Rikku.
"Yeah, how do you know who I am?" Rikku said surprised that someone, even an Al Bhed, recognized her.
"Well, you're pretty famous in my class. Helping defeat Sin and Vegnagun. There are some girls in my class who are big fans of you," Ishka explained smiling widely at Rikku.
"Class?" Rikku intoned. 'What could they be learning here?' she thought
"Yeah, my class. But I'm kinda late," she said glancing at the watch on her wrist. "So...can you move?" Ishka giggled. Rikku blushed and jumped to the side. Ishka reached for the door and turned to Rikku. "It was nice meeting you," she said sincerely.
"You too," Rikku said as Ishka walked into the room. Rikku turned away and began walking back down the hallway.
"Rikkster!" she heard an all-too-familiar voice call after her. Rikku turned around and saw Gippal striding towards her. "What're you doing down here?" he asked looking to the door she had been standing in front of, a look of dawning comprehension cloaking his face.
"Well, I was looking around peeking into rooms and I found a room full of little kids," Rikku explained raising an eyebrow at Gippal silently asking for an explanation.
"Oh," Gippal said a blush creeping over his normally cool face. "So you've found out my little secret." He paused and Rikku waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, he changed the topic. "Come on," he said turning around and walking away from Rikku. "Let's get to work."
"Wait!" Rikku said running up to Gippal and matching his stride. "Aren't you gonna tell me why those kids are here?"
"Well," Gippal said, still determinedly walking down the hallway and trying to mask the embarrassment that coursed through his voice. He didn't like showing his softer sides. But he continued anyway, knowing Rikku would soon get it out of him. He decided instead of fighting her he could just give up and quit prolonging his agony. "Most of them are orphans. So they stay here and learn about machina and when they're old enough, they get a job here. Some of them have parents and this is like boarding school. And some of their parents work for me, here. Your dad pays for most of it. Didn't you know?"
"No," Rikku said stopping as they reached the ancient machina. "Pops never talked to me about anything like money or work. He still treats me like his little girl."
"Oh," Gippal said masking a smile that had crept over his face. So his nickname did apply. Maybe that's why she hated it so much. "So, are you ready to teach me this Vymmehk Point thingy?"
"What? Oh, um...I guess," Rikku said taken aback. She quickly collected herself and strode over to the machina's foot, kneeling down. "Alright, come over here," she said waving Gippal over to join her. Gippal walked over and kneeled down next to Rikku. "This takes immense concentration and you have to completely clear your mind. Even when you figure out where the point is, you have to push it in exactly the right way or it won't work. First, I'm gonna teach you how to shape your hand. Do what I do."
Rikku made a fist, stuck out her first finger, tucked her thumb under it, and curved her index finger. Gippal made a fist, stuck his index finger out straight, and curled his thumb under his other three fingers just to annoy Rikku. She sighed and grabbed his hand, forming it into the right position.
"Now, be quiet," she said turning to look back at the machina. "I have to remember how to do this." Rikku stared at the metal plate in front of her, gently raking the surface with her gaze. After a minute of intense silence, Rikku smiled and took Gippal's hand in hers. She brought it over to a spot in the top left of the plate and pushed his index finger into it. Gippal gasped lightly as a slight shock raced along his body. Then the plate fell off with a clang on the concrete floor.
"Is it supposed to feel like that?" Gippal asked looking anxiously at a smiling Rikku. Gippal was amazed that it had actually worked. Seeing it work for him was different then watching Rikku do it.
"Yeah," she said confidently but her voice changed to one of concern as she continued. "That is, if you felt a shiver or shock run through your body."
"Okay, so how do you know where to poke it?" Gippal said feeling much relieved.
"Not poke," Rikku said teasingly in mock offense. "You press, never poke." Obviously Gippal didn't get the joke as he looked at Rikku as though she had lost her mind. Rikku burst out laughing and continued happily. "I don't know. For me, it's like that spot is calling to me," she said her voice turning dreamy. "Like it wants me to touch it."
Gippal raised an eyebrow at Rikku. "Would you like to be left alone with the machina?" he teased.
Rikku snorted at Gippal. "Just try it. Concentrate on just the plate, not the whole machina. Scan it and wait 'til you feel a sort of tug to one spot. Then try pushing it how I showed you."
Gippal scowled but became quiet, staring at the plate, concentrating very hard. While Rikku looked at it pleasantly as if it were her friend, Gippal glared as though it had stolen his girlfriend. After about five minutes, Gippal gave up.
"I don't feel anything. Not a tug or a pull or even an itch," he complained.
"You're thinking too much, trying too hard. Quit pressuring yourself so much," she said calmly.
"Well, it's kind of hard to stop thinking. Besides, it's important that I learn how to do this," Gippal explained leering at Rikku.
"So, what'll make you stop thinking and stop worrying?" Rikku asked cheekily.
"I dunno," he said seriously, leaning back on his elbows and looking up to the ceiling. "Sometimes, if someone really surprises me, my mind will go blank for a bit."
"Hmm," Rikku said pondering that sentence, eyes sparking with mischief. Before Gippal realized what she was up to, Rikku had leaned over him and kissed him full on the lips. Gippal's eyes widened as Rikku drew back slowly, unwillingly. All rational thought flew from his mind as he turned to her smirking face. "Alright," she said, quite proud of herself for having such an effect on Gippal. "Try it now."
Gippal sat up, mind still blank and concentrated on the plate. He scanned it and near the middle he felt a small tug in his brain. He molded his hand into the proper position and pushed the spot that called to him. He felt a stronger jolt than before run through his veins and his thoughts slowly came back to him. The clank of the metal on the floor shook him from his daze.
Rikku squealed and jumped to her feet dancing around. "Yes! You did it. Woot! I am such a good teacher."
This, more than anything, brought Gippal back to Spira. "Oh yeah," he said disgruntled. "It was all you. I did nothing," he said the sarcasm dripping from his every word. Rikku noticed and scowled at him.
"Alright," she said indifferently. "So you did it, but you couldn't have done it without my help."
"Your help? Is that what you call it?" Gippal scoffed standing and stepping close to Rikku so that her body was only inches from his. He looked down into her astonished face and half-grinned, half-smirked. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you Cid's girl?" Rikku scowled at him and tried to step away but Gippal wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her escape. Rikku gasped as shivers ran up and down her spine. Gippal lowered his face to hers and whispered, "Now, why don't you give me a real kiss?" His breath tickled her lips and she lifted up slightly. Her lips had barely brushed his when a knock resounded through the room. Gippal quickly dropped his arms from Rikku's waist as she hopped away from him. Both were blushing scarlet.
"Come in," Gippal said sounding guilty.
Nhadala marched into the room and over to Gippal. "Gippal," she said in a business-like tone. "I need the reports on the other diggers that were in the meeting this morning. I also need you to explain your ideas again so I can record them and relay them to the others."
Gippal sighed and turned to Rikku. "Will you go to my room and get the reports?" Gippal asked in a pleading voice. "They should be in a box. I'm not exactly sure which box, but they're in there."
Rikku looked at him scowling. She knew she would do it, she just wanted to tease him about it first. "Why should I?" Rikku said sarcastically. "Just because I'm your assistant, doesn't mean I'm your slave."
"Rikku, I know that!" Gippal replied obviously not picking up on the sarcasm. "It's just, I need to talk to Nhadala and it would be faster if you went to get them."
"Alright Gippal," Rikku said in mock annoyance. "I'll go."
"Thanks, Cid's girl," Gippal said throwing in his own bit of teasing.
Rikku walked away turning around only once to look at Gippal and scowl.
=========================================
Rikku walked into the room, jaw dropping. The room such a mess. There were socks, shirts, and even boxers strewn all over the room. There was even a light blue, checked shirt draped over a green, copper-rimmed lamp. On the floor and dresser were spare machina parts and tools. It was as if he never stopped working. His bed was covered in more clothes and machina parts. 'Gippal obviously isn't very organized,' she thought as she looked at the far-right corner of his room. About thirty boxes of all shapes and sizes hid it.
Rikku picked her way across the clothing, machina, and tool strewn floor towards the pile of boxes. She began to go through them one by one. They were filled with everything from blitzball statistics to old toys. After about ten, she opened that was full of pictures. The first picture was of Gippal (without the eye patch) and Rikku standing outside in the Bikanel Desert. As usual, he was annoying Rikku, this time by messing up her hair. He was laughing and she was smacking him, scowling. Gippal being one year older than her had started digging a year ago but that day was Rikku's first and Gippal had wanted to commemorate it. So he had stopped a random digger and had him take a picture of the two.
Rikku took the box and walked to Gippal's bed sitting down. The next picture was of Gippal and Rikku again. This time, however, Gippal had an eye-patch. He was sitting on a bed in the infirmary and Rikku was sitting next to the bed in a chair. She was looking guilty and he was smirking.
That was the day Gippal had lost his eye. Rikku had been fixing a machina but she accidentally crossed a couple wires. The result was that instead of squirting Gippal with water, the machina had shot him. But it was a strange bullet; the bullet made a miniscule explosion when it hit his eye instead of continuing into his brain. After disassembling the machina in record time to keep it from shooting anyone else, she rushed over to Gippal dropping to her knees. When she saw the blood pouring from one of his eyes, she screamed and people came running. Cid had been issuing orders to the older Al Bhed as they worked on a larger machina. But when he heard his little girl scream he dropped everything and came running. When he reached her he was surprised to find that she wasn't the one hurt. Gippal was lying unconscious on the ground with a bloody eye. After a second to let the shock settle in, he scooped up Gippal's twelve-year-old body and ran to the infirmary.
Rikku waited outside as they cleaned and bandaged Gippal's wound. Her father came out and told her she was allowed to go in. She rushed in and, on seeing Gippal's bandaged head she burst out crying. Gippal woke up and blinked his one eye. She ran over to the bed and flung herself onto him hugging Gippal for all she was worth. Gippal was very surprised but he hugged her back as she begged, in a choked voice interrupted by shuddering breaths, for forgiveness. He forgave her right away saying that he was fine and it didn't matter. She got off him and sat on the chair, wiping her eyes. After a substantial amount of teasing, to make Rikku feel better, Gippal had asked Rikku to be his girlfriend. She had been his girlfriend ever since then until he left for the Crimson Squad. Now that she thought back on it, she realized that incident was probably why Rikku had worked so hard to master machina. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her or any other machina. She had sworn to herself that Gippal would be the last person to ever be hurt because of her carelessness.
Rikku blinked and wiped away the tears that had begun forming. She quickly moved on to the next picture but soon wished she hadn't. She sat motionless staring at the picture mouth agape. The picture showed two Al Bhed teens kissing. One was Gippal however the other was not Rikku. But Gippal was wearing an eye patch so Rikku and Gippal had been dating at the time. Rikku flipped over the picture hoping to find an explanation that would show Gippal's innocence.
On the back, written in big, loopy, purple ink was:
Tayn Gippal,
E ryt vih mycd hekrd. Fa cruimt ku uid suna uvdah. Ev oui ajan fyhd du lrayd uh 'Cid's Girl' ykyeh, yc oui lymm ran, E'mm pa rybbo du ramb uid.
Muja,
Adrian
BC: Oui'na y kuut geccan! : p
(( Dear Gippal,
I had fun last night. We should go out more often. If you ever want to cheat on 'Cid's Girl' again, as you call her, I'll be happy to help out.
Love,
Adrian
PS: You're a good kisser! : p ))
As Rikku flipped the picture over again, tears forming in her eyes, the door to the hallway opened."Rikku, what's taking so long? We've been waiting for like, ten minutes," Gippal said in an annoyed voice stepping into the room and closing the door.
Rikku looked up, tearing her eyes from the picture to settle on Gippal's face. She held up the picture and stood, walking over to Gippal.
"What's this?" she said her voice radiating pain and confusion.
Gippal stood erect looking at the ground bracing himself for the temper tantrum he knew was about to come. But it didn't. He looked up at Rikku seeing silent tears gliding down her face. Her hands were clenched, one crushing the picture, her teeth gritted, and she was shaking slightly. But the shakes weren't caused by anger. They were caused by the pain and resentment that filled her eyes, caused by the shuddering breaths she took as she willed herself to stop crying.
"Rikku," Gippal said in a soothing voice.
"Gippal," Rikku interrupted him in a choked voice. "Don't. I don't want to hear excuses. It happened. There's nothing I can do about it. Yelling and screaming at you won't change what you did." Her voice was steady but tears still coursed down her unusually sad face. Her voice lacked the giddiness and joy it usually held. But it also lacked the pain and anger and hurt that were covering her face and spilling from her eyes. "I just want to know why. Why did you want her more than me? Or did you not realize that you'd lose me if I had found out?"
Gippal slumped, feeling worse than he would have if she had just yelled at him. He hadn't thought about that. He hadn't thought he would get caught. He was just so frustrated with her at the time. He had wanted more than the fighting and teasing he got with Rikku. He wanted something else. Someone to kiss and hold. Not someone to play with.
"Rikku, I needed more than a friend and that's all you were at the time. I just happened to call you my girlfriend," he said scratching his neck and turning to look into her bright, swirling, tear-filled orbs. Those eyes had always been trouble with his heart. They hurt him, loved him, made fun of him, and wanted him. Right now they were killing him with all the pain that was coming from them. "I wanted someone to fall in love with. And at that point, you just weren't it."
Rikku gulped back a sob and looked into his eyes. "Fine," she said sadly. "I forgive you. I forgive you for lying, I forgive you for not telling me, I forgive you for hiding it, and I even forgive you for cheating." Rikku paused and looked away from Gippal. "But, I don't forgive you for hurting me. Do you remember, when my mother left what you said to me? You said that if you could, you would never let anyone hurt me again." She turned her eyes back to Gippal's and continued. "You promised. I thought that promise included you." Rikku broke down at this last sentence, her voice breaking. She covered her face and sunk to her knees sobbing quietly.
"Rikku," Gippal said reaching out to her. But for the second time that day, he was interrupted. This time, however, it wasn't by Rikku but by a digger who burst into the room panting. Rikku stood up quickly, her back to the digger wiping her eyes.
"Cen," the digger said urgently clutching a stitch in his side. "Cen #pant# cusaputo'c cdumah #wheeze# dra sasuno vnus dra yhleahd machina." (( Sir. Sir somebody's stolen the memory from the ancient machina. ))
Gippal turned from Rikku to the digger eyes filled with surprise.
"Fryd?! Fryttoy sayh cdumah?" Gippal said with a hint of malice and disbelief. (( What?! Whaddya mean stolen? ))
"Dra sasuno ryc paah cdumah. Huputo fyc fydlrehk dra machina, cu fa'ja hu etay fru tet ed," the digger explained. (( The memory has been stolen. Nobody was watching the machina, so we've no idea who did it." ))
"Alright, I'll go check it out," Gippal said striding towards the door. His steps and stomps showed how furious he was. He stopped and turned around searching the boxes for the reports. 'How could this happen? What the hell had the 'guards' been doing? Obviously not what they were hired to.' He found the reports and walked back to the door. But he stopped as he heard a small voice coming from behind him.
"Gippal?" Rikku said meekly, eyes and cheeks still red from crying. "I still need to talk to you."
Gippal spun on his heels and glared at Rikku. "Rikku! We have bigger problems right now. A stolen memory is a much bigger issue right now than dealing with some dumb relationship."
Rikku's jaw dropped as she stepped back. It was as if Gippal had just smacked her. She felt stung and surprised.
"Some dumb relationship?" she said astonished, face still streaked with tears, more pain and resentment flooding through her veins. Gippal turned to her, eyes wide as he realized what he had said. Rikku's mood swung from pain and hurt to anger and resentment.
"Rikku, I..." he started but was cut off.
"Is that all I am to you?" she said angrily eyes connecting with his, revealing how much pain he had caused with those three little words. "Just a fling that means nothing next to your precious machina?" Rikku sounded hurt and mad. "Fine," she said. "If that's all I am to you, then it's over. I don't know why we even tried. Obviously I was just another of the many girls I keep hearing about. We're over, Gippal." Rikku turned from him and broke into a run. She ran out of his room, pushing past him and the digger.
"Rikku!" Gippal shouted reaching out to grab empty air.
"Cen?" he heard the digger say uneasily. Gippal let his arm fall back to his side. He could deal with Rikku later. Right now, he needed to figure out how to find whoever took the ancient machina's memory. So he turned back to the digger. (( Sir? ))
"Ymneknd, kad pylg du fung. E'mm taym fedr drec," Gippal said walking out of the room. (( Alright, get back to work. I'll deal with this. ))
The End!
Well, for now. Don't worry, I'll continue to update. I'm not stopping here.
Okay, so I hope you all liked this one. Drama, romance, mystery, annoyance, and fluff! Be happy and review! o-o