A/N: Well, here it is- the chapter you guys have been waiting for. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Don't worry, though- there's still plenty more. I'm not going to end it here. And I promise I'll try not to do any more huge cliffys, but I can't promise anything :)

Thank you guys once again for all of your reviews. They really mean a lot to me.

-

It had been almost three weeks since I had reached Besaid. Yuna kept saying how worried she was about me. I had hardly been out of the hut in all that time, and I still felt really ill. I kept insisting that I was fine, that I just needed time to work through some things. Yuna kept saying that she was going to have the "village doctor" see me. She was worried about me and the baby. I refused to let her get one... I was just going through a rough time.

I spent most of my time in someone's hut, but occasionally I wandered outside. The sunshine and the beach didn't succeed in making my mood much better. It was all real pretty and everything.. it's just that everything I saw kept reminding me of him. The green grass and trees reminded me of his eyes, the sparkling ocean of his smile...

He just wouldn't go away, you know?

-

That afternoon went along pretty well. Rei and I had a little outdoor picnic for lunch and afterwards she played with the little Al Bhed girl again. Rei had been learning a lot of Al Bhed already in her few days here. Dad and I had been teaching her some and I guess being surrounded by the language all the time was helping her. Rei told me that she couldn't wait to show Auntie Yuna and the others all that she was learning. I could only smile at her. I hadn't really thought about going home all that often in the last day or so. I guess it was because I had other things on my mind.

Dinnertime came along soon enough and it was time for me to go see Gippal again. I promised Rei I'd be back to tuck her in that night. I knew that I was going to tell him about Rei tonight and I really didn't want to stay at his place too long because I know he'd be angry. No, furious. I guess he had every right to be, though. I just wanted to get this over with.

I had little trouble finding his building; it was almost the biggest one in the city. When I entered I checked in with the receptionist. She said that Gippal just got out of a meeting and he should be waiting for me upstairs. I gave her a thanks and make my way up the flights of stairs to his hallway.

As I approached his door I was suddenly overcome with a sudden feeling of déja-vu.

I felt like I was brought back to Djose almost three years ago. I stood outside his office then, preparing to tell him about Rei.

I tried to assure myself that things were going to be okay this time. This was entirely different.

Or was it?

I pushed my fears into the back of my mind the best I could and took a deep breath.

Be brave, Rikku. You helped kill Sin. You helped destroy Vegnagun. You are the mother of a two year old child. This is nothing... you can do this.

I slowly opened up the door and noticed that the room was dark. I flipped on a light and saw Gippal sitting on his bed again, staring at the floor in silence.

"Hey." I said meekly.

He said nothing.

I sat on the bed next to him and looked him over. He didn't really seem to be particularly angry. He just kept staring at the floor, almost sadly. "Well... you going to say anything?"

"Rikku," his voice croaked, "who was that little girl with you?"

I froze. A hundred different things started buzzing through my head, but I could say nothing. I could only stare wide-eyed at the ground, my mouth open but silent. How did he know? When did he see her? He must have seen us earlier today.

Dammit, Rikku, you should have realized that he might see you. I mean, he lives here too. It's not like he keeps shut up in this room all day.

Gippal turned around, his green eye fixed on me intently. He wanted an answer. "Well?"

Come on, Rikku. Speak. Say something. "She... her name is Rei." Nice one. I turned around to face him as well but I could not make myself look him in the eye. "Gippal... she is my daughter." Wait a minute, I don't think that's...

"She's WHAT?" Gippal practically leaped off the bed. "Rikku... what the hell?" He stood, there, his hands moving from his hair to his face to just kind of waving in the air. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

I stood up. "Wait, Gippal, let me explain!"

"Oh, yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Hey Gippal, I was so emotionally traumatized by what you did, but two days after I left I found another guy and fucked him and hey, look, I got knocked up! Isn't that great?"

"GIPPAL!" I screamed, anger and hurt burning up inside of me. He thought it was someone else's little girl.

"What, Rikku? So you gonna tell me who this guy is? What a wonderful father you have for your daughter? Did he come back to Home with you, or did you leave him behind?"

"Gippal, listen to me..."

"When were you going to tell me about this?"

"Today, but..."

"But what? Any other guys in the picture? Any other babies I should know about?"

"NO!" I screamed. We were both getting really loud, and I'm sure just about everyone in the building could hear us.

"Yeah, that's what you want me to believe." He placed his hands on his face and sighed. "Look, I really need to be alone right now. Don't talk to me." He turned around and started walking out of the room angrily. I followed him out into the hallway.

"GIPPAL! WAIT!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE, RIKKU!"

He started running faster, but I caught up to him. I grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him around so he faced me.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" His voice was cold and malicious. I had never heard him talk like that, ever.

"REI IS YOUR DAUGHTER, GIPPAL! SHE'S YOURS!"

"She... what?" His voice changed tone, and he stared at me with confusion.

"You heard me. She is your daughter, Gippal. I have been with no one after you. She is your little girl."

Gippal just gave me a blank stare as he processed what I had told him. He frowned, and then opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

I put my arms around him and gave him a hug, trying to comfort him as I could feel the tears start to come. "I'm so sorry, Gippal. I should have told you sooner. She's your little girl... your daughter. Our daughter." The tears slid onto his shirt, and I felt disgusted with myself. How could I not tell him?

"I... have a daughter. I... I..." Gippal returned my hug a little, but I felt him quickly start to slip down. I could not hold him up and he collapsed on the floor in a flurry of emotions. Relief. Confusion. Anger. Disbelief.

I sat on the floor with him and stroked his hair, my tears streaming down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Gippal... I'm sorry..."

Gippal just laid there, his head in my lap, staring into nothing. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know, Gippal. I don't know." I bit my lip and sniffled. "I guess I was just scared. I thought after what happened... you didn't love me anymore. I just couldn't bring myself to do it." I could feel him tense up. "I know that's not an excuse. What I did was inexcusable, Gippal. I'm so sorry... please forgive me."

Gippal shot up suddenly, his hands on his face again. He turned around and looked at me. "I want to see her."

"Now? She'll be going to bed in an hour or two, Gippal."

"I want to see her." His repeated, his voice cold and demanding.

"I can bring her by tomorrow morning."

I don't think he was very happy with what I told him, but he would have to live with it. I wasn't going to bring Rei all the way down here this close to her bedtime to see him, especially when he was this angry. I wanted him to calm down first so he had some touch of sanity when we came to see him.

"Well? Is that okay with you, or do you have something planned?" I asked.

He said nothing, but only gave me that same blank look. It was starting to make me angry, the way he wasn't talking to me.

After a few more moments of waiting for him to speak, I got tired of sitting. I stood up, turned around, and started to walk away. "We'll be here around ten," I said angrily as I left. I heard Gippal turn around and walk in the other direction, back to his room.

I left the building in a flurry of anger and disappointment. I was angry with him and with myself. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, did I actually expect him to take this well? To be happy?

I could be such an idiot sometimes.

-

The sun was beginning to set, and I walked slowly back so I could recompose myself a little. I didn't want to walk into the house looking all angry and upset. So I took my time, trying to enjoy the scenery. My mind was still on other things, though.

When I got to the house Rei was inside coloring a picture. When she saw me walk in, her face lit up and she jumped into my open arms, making the both of us laugh. She jumped down just as quickly and ran over to grab her picture.

"Look, mommy! Look what I made!"

I took the picture from her. I didn't really know what it was... it looked like a few blue and green scribbles to me. "What is it, sweetie?"

Rei sighed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She could have an attitude when she wanted to. "It's Besaid, at the beach!" I smiled at her and sat down in a chair. Rei climbed into my lap and hugged me tightly. "I miss Besaid. I want Vidina."

I returned her hug. "I know sweetie, I know. We won't be here too much longer." I kissed the top of her hair. "Besides, you've got people to play with here too, remember?" I tickled her little feet, causing her to giggle. She jumped off the chair and ran off to our room.

I ate a little bit of leftovers from dinner, then I played dolls with Rei. She asked Grandpa if he wanted to play with us, but he just laughed. That's Cid for you.

I gave Rei a bath then I took a shower. Not too long later we went to bed. It was still a little early but I was tired.

I tried not to think about the next day as I tried to make myself sleep. I couldn't help but notice how much Rei looked like Gippal. She had his wild hair... his intense green eyes... his adventurous spirit. I think the only thing she had of mine was her little nose. Her face, maybe, but that was kind of hard to tell at two years old. In any case, I wondered if Gippal would notice the similarities. It was kind of hard to believe that he thought she was someone else's daughter.

I just hoped that he would find it in his heart to love her, even if he couldn't love me.

-

The next morning came as usual. Rei, as always, was up before me and waking me up. I went through the same morning routine, although that morning I actually ate all of my breakfast. I ended up being the one to make it, though. Dad was still sleeping when Rei woke me up and Brother was gone somewhere.

Afterwards I helped Rei pick out a nice lavender dress. I brushed her hair as best I could with her squirming, and put part of it back in a ribbon. Rei was excited because she got to get all dressed up, which she hardly ever did. When she asked why she got to wear her "pretty dress," I told her it was because we were going to meet a special friend. I couldn't tell her that Gippal was her father. I wondered if I ever could.

-

Rei was her usual bouncy self when we reached Gippal's building. We were a little bit early, we still had about ten or fifteen minutes 'till ten. I checked in with the receptionist, who said that Gippal would be in some sort of conference until ten thirty.

So much for not being busy.

I took Rei outside to play for a while, but the growing desert heat soon brought us back into the air-conditioned building. I was used to desert heat, but Rei wasn't. She played around in the reception area for the rest of the time, having make believe adventures. A couple men and a woman came in the building and Rei jumped out at them from behind a plant, pretending that they were fiends. I scolded Rei and told her to apologize, but the people only laughed. The woman told me that she was the cutest little thing, making Rei smile.

Eventually ten-thirty rolled around and the receptionist got a call from Gippal saying that he was going to be waiting for us. I thanked her and took Rei's hand as we made the climb up the stairs. I began to grow nervous again. What if he was still really angry? I just hoped he wouldn't say something he shouldn't in front of Rei.

We reached his room. The door was open and he had the light on. I was still holding Rei's hand tightly as we walked inside. Gippal had been sitting in a chair looking at the wall when we came in. When he saw us he stood up, his eyes immediately moving to Rei.

I could see his eyes scanning her, taking in every little feature. Did he believe that she was his?

It was silent for a long while and I could tell Rei was starting to get uncomfortable. I let go of Rei's hand and ruffled her hair a little bit. "Rei... this is my friend."

Rei smiled at Gippal, but her arm was still clutched around my leg. I couldn't believe that the same girl who jumped out in front of those strangers like that could be so shy.

Gippal gave her a small smile. "Hello, Rei. That's a pretty name."

There must have been something in his voice that gave Rei comfort. She let go of my leg and gave Gippal another smile. "Hi." She walked up to him and looked at his face. "What's wrong with your eye?"

I was about to say something to Rei when Gippal laughed. He thought it was funny. Maybe he wasn't too angry after all.

Gippal looked at her for a little while longer while Rei told him about her "pretty dress." He only smiled softly at her and looked at her with something in his eyes that I had not seen since that evening a couple of nights ago.

Love.

After Rei was done talking, Gippal knelt down to her level and opened up his arms. Rei giggled and walked over to him. He enveloped her in a hug, and Rei hugged tightly back. Tears streamed down his face and onto her as he stroked her hair. Rei, in her innocence, just smiled and patted his back and told him that there was no reason to be sad and that everything would be okay.

Gippal motioned with his arm for me to come over, and I knelt down and he wrapped his arm around tightly me. I finally succombed to my emotions and started crying as well, my arms wrapped around the both of them. We just stayed that way for a long while; crying, smiling, laughing, holding each other close and never wanting to ever let go.