I'll Be There For You – Chapter 10

The Escape

"No one is signing anything." I repeated, catching my breath. My stomach was beginning to throb, but I ignored it. Yuna, Tidus, Baralai and Paine flooded into the room behind me.

The woman who introduced herself as Azar laughed, and came to stand in front of her desk. "Well, I'll admit that I was not expecting you to show up… Well, since you're here, I guess you'll get to watch me gain power."

"No one is signing anything." I repeated more firmly, and raised my Mortar to aim at her head, proving my point. I saw Rikku working on her bonds, and I knew that she needed more time.

"Hmph. Cid, here's your motivation." Azar said, and grabbed Rikku from behind, holding a gun to her temple. "Sign or your daughter dies."

Cid looked at her, then the papers on her desk. He picked up the pen he had been given, and starred at the papers.

"What's your motivation for this? You aren't entitled to this position anyway." I spat, waiting for Azar's response.

She just laughed. "You see, I do, and so do you. After all, I am your sister."

My face paled, and I held my gun tighter. "My sister died years ago."

"The sister you knew died years ago. Right now you see someone new, someone who will claim what is rightfully theirs."

"It's not yours, you only think that. It was some stupid idea that Dad put in our heads because he hated Cid. We all know that, it's old news."

"That's true, but I looked in the old records before Home was destroyed. We do have a legal right to be the leaders of the Al Bhed. Now, I can take pity on you and allow you to rule with me… your twin sister."

I snorted. "Rule? With you? Who do you think I am? You kidnap the man I look up to as a strong man and the leader of my people. Then your men SHOOT me, and kidnap my leader's daughter, who I happen to like a bit! Then you threaten both of their lives, and you ask me to rule the Al Bhed with you? You are not my sister. My sister was a kind and loving person."

Azar laughed a cold and merciless laugh. "You are right, I am not the sister than you knew ten years ago. I've changed, and for the better."

"You mean the worst." I hissed. "And what about that machina explosion? Who was that meant for?"

"You. Rikku. Both of you. Didn't matter which one of you died, as long as you both did in the end."

"You heartless bitch."

"Call me whatever you wish to. Cid, those papers please."

I looked back at Rikku, and her eyes were wide. I suppose what she was hearing was scaring the heck, if not confusing her. I saw that she had broken the handcuffs, and they were on the floor at her feet. How Azar hadn't noticed by now was beyond me. She looked at me in the eye, and gave me a slight nod. I winked back, and I pulled the trigger.

Paine and Baralai jumped into action, disarming and taking care to the guards while Yuna and Tidus dashed over to Cid to get him out of harm's way.

Azar screamed. She let go of Rikku and her gun, grasping her now bleeding leg. Rikku dove for the discarded gun, but Azar was faster. She grabbed a new gun from her jacket, and shot.

… It seemed to take an eternity for her to fall. She twisted from the blow, and her back arched. She slammed into the ground with a dull thud, and didn't move.

"This is what happens to people who interfere with my plans!" Azar spat, then shot again, this time at me. Fire spread through my arm, and I dropped my Mortar in pain. Azar managed to get out of the room, and fled to some unknown location. I knew that she would be far from the ruins in a matter of hours, here and her followers. I ran over to Rikku, and tried to stop the blood flow. I saw the bullet hole close, extremely close to her heart. I undid her bandana, and tied it around her chest in attempts to stop the flow. Baralai rushed over and undid his bandana as well, adding it to her bandage. I looked at him, and he was starring solemnly at me.

"We have to get her out of here." He whispered, and I nodded. I made a move to carry her, but Baralai swatted my arm away. "I've got her, I promise. You can't carry her with that arm."

"You better get out of here fast my brother! In five minutes, the Omega Ruins will no loner exist!" Azar said over her airship's intercom, and she sped off into the distance.

Cid managed to get his wits back about him. "Come on! We have to get out of here!"

Baralai picked up Rikku, and I held my bleeding arm. We ran out of Azar's office, and down a hallway. After a minute of running, Yuna screamed in frustration.

"I don't remember the way out!"

"Move!" I cried, throwing a grenade at a nearby wall. It blew up, and to my relief, the wall lead outside. "Let's go!" I exclaimed, and ran outside. The gang followed me, and the wall collapsed behind us. The Lady of the Sands was close by, and we sprinted for it. The crew saw us, and they started up the engines in a heartbeat.

Once we were onboard, Yuna and Baralai immediately went to work on Rikku. They did everything they could, but they didn't accomplish much.

"We've stopped most of the blood flow, but it isn't going to matter much in the long run if she doesn't get to a hospital soon." Baralai explained, and sat me down. "Now I need a look at that arm." He managed to get the bullet out (DAMN that hurts!), and seal the wound. "Just sit back. When we get there, the doctors will want to have a look at you too."

Well, it's been a week. The doctors say that I have a clean bill of health after getting some blood, and that Rikku is recovering, but she hasn't even moved. I'm scared, more scared then I have ever been in my life. What if she doesn't wake up? What if I never get to see her smile again? What if-

Gippal man, stop it. You need to pull yourself together! I continued to scold myself for thinking that Rikku would never wake up; she's too strong for that. Then the nurse came charging into the waiting room.

"Which one of you is Gippal?" she panted.

I stood up. "What's wrong?"

"Follow me please." The nurse said.

I stepped inside the room, and gasped. Rikku was sitting up, and managed to give me a small smile. I ran to the bed and slid to a stop, which made her laugh. I smiled. How did I ever doubt that she wouldn't wake up?

"Hey Gippal." She said softly.

I pulled a chair closer and sat down in it. "Hey there." I whispered, and held her hand in both of mine.

"Gip, look at me." She said, and I shook my head. She didn't need to see that my eyes were getting watery, and that a few tears managed to roll down my face…

She lifted my chin, and looked shocked to see my tears. "You know, I'm not worth tears."

I laughed, and kissed her forehead. "Yes you are, yes you are."

She smiled, and squeezed my hands. "Hey, promise me something, okay?"

"What is it?"

"As soon as the doctors will let me leave, you're going to take me somewhere and have a great time, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow, hope rising in my heart. "Like a date?"

She smiled impishly. "Yeah, like a date. We can drag everyone else along too if you want."

"I promise." I said, "There's this new Al Bhed club here in Luca…"

"Oooh! It sounds like fun!" she squealed, then started coughing.

"Whoa, slow down there. You're not a hundred percent better yet."

As she got over her coughs, she smiled up at me. "Yeah I know. How's Pops?"

"Alive and kicking, and I can testify. He's working on the finishing touches of Home, and trying to find Azar on the side."

"So she's really your twin sister?"

I hung my head. "Yeah. I thought she died ten years ago. She went missing when we were kids…."

"Gippal, you didn't know. This isn't your fault, so don't start thinking that."

I looked up at her in shock. Of course I had been thinking this was my fault. "How…"

Rikku winked at me. "I can read minds."

"Oh dear, then what am I about to do?" I asked, grinning.

"Um… I think I know, but I want to see if I'm right…"

I leaned down, and gently kissed her on the lips. "Was that it?"

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, and I laughed. "I'll take that as I 'no'. You should get some sleep, and I promise I'll be here when you wake up."

A/N: Gippal and Azar... TWINS! AHAHAHA! Aren't I evil? Anyway, more fluff is coming, I hope anyway. It depends what kind of a mood I'm in really. This is story is coming to a close, so I need to start thinking about the sequel... eek! I haven't even begun to PLAN it! Ahahaha! Oh well, I better get on that.

Oh, just a cool fun fact, Azar means fire in Persian. I know I'm weird... and I love it!

for always x - Hehe! I'm glad you like the twist!

marajade963 - I wanted to do a good father daughter scene, and it's nice to know that I made it somewhat believable. You know, I seriously think you have a cool job. Being able to help people with cancer and such is just incredible. I would love to help with things like that, but I don't have the stomach to handle stuff like that. What can I say, I'm a true girly girl. Give me a book to read or a piece of music to play and I'm good! ((lol)) Yup, I'm still in school ((gags)) but it's okay I guess. And I have a "hell of a talent"? Why thank you! Wish my LA teacher would think the same... oh hum.

Vemmie-Daezure - Yeah, Gippal's got a pshyco and evil twin sister! Boo! Sorry, I wanted to write something that wasn't all mindless fluff, although I assure you that's coming!

Disclaimer: ((operator voice)) Final Fantasy X-2 and it's characters belong to Square Enix. ((evil voice)) But Azar is mine! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Read and review please! I likes it when you guys review...

-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-