A/N: No, I am not dead. Sorry about taking almost a month to update- I've had tons of homework again, and things have been going that have kept me from writing. I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm going to make this, but I'm not done yet. I will really try and get the next one up sooner. Excuses, I know. I just hope the fluff factor in this chapter will make up for it. :)

oooo

We stood there in the middle of the blowing sand, silent, for a minute before Fydev let me go. I rubbed my eyes and sniffed. Why did I have to cry so much? I was tired of feeling like a confused, emotional teenager. Why couldn't our relationship be simple, like Yuna and Tidus? They hardly ever had problems.

That's just what you get when you fall in love with somebody like Gippal, I guess.

I thanked Fydev for everything and gave him a smile before I turned around to leave. I figured I'd might as well go back to the house, since I was feeling a little better. Paranoid Cid was probably wondering where I was.

I walked back slowly, still not feeling quite ready to go back. What was I going to do now? Should I go back and see him tonight? Tomorrow? Next week?

I didn't know. Well, I'd definitely have to talk to him before the concert in two weeks, preferably by next week, but... well, I kind of felt like an idiot. I still felt the same about the marriage thing, but I guess I overreacted a little bit.

Good job, Rikku... always got to be the drama queen.

Okay, so next time I talked to him I'd apologize. Then what? I still didn't want to get married so soon, but would I ever want to?

I stopped walking for a moment and sighed. Of course I'd want to marry Gippal someday. I mean, we love each other, right?

Then why was I so stubborn about not getting married right away, if we loved each other so much?

I guess it's just the way I am. I'm Rikku, the bubbly, hyper, independent, "I don't need anybody" girl. I don't want to be tied down just yet.

Or is it that I'm afraid that I'll get hurt again? That we'll get married and be a family, only have Rei and me hurt because Gippal couldn't keep his hands off another woman?

No... I don't want to believe that he would do that to me. I can't.

I start walking again and brush a strand of hair out of my eyes, blinking against the blowing sand.

I decided that for the time being, I would just think about things for a while... I'd decide what to do later.

oooo

When I got back to the house everybody was finishing up with dinner. As usual, Cid interrogated me about where I was, and Brother didn't even look in my direction. I decided that one of these days I was going to try and talk to him because the silent treatment was really starting to get on my nerves. I would rather have him say he was mad at me than keep ignoring my existence like this- at least I would know what he was thinking.

I noticed that Rei was pretty dirty from playing out in the sand all day so I gave her a quick bath before letting her loose to run around the house in a pre-bedtime "I'm not tired" frenzy. I took a shower myself, washing out all the sand trapped in my long and tangled hair. I must have looked like a mess, and I had a wonderful time trying to get out all the knots.

When I got out I saw Rei collapsed next to Cid on the couch and I smiled. She tired out sooner than usual; I was expecting another half-hour or so of chasing her around. I gently picked her up and gave Cid a grin. Her head rested on my shoulder and she had her thumb in her mouth. I was a little surprised, since she hadn't done that in quite a few months. Oh well.

I went to go down the hallway when I bumped into Brother and just about fell back into the wall. I gave an embarrassed grin and looked up at him, ready for him to pass me by.

"Cunno (sorry)." He said quietly before glancing at Rei and walking away. I sat there for a moment before I realized that Brother did in fact just talk to me. It wasn't much of a conversation, but at least he said something. I was getting somewhere, I guess.

I set Rei down in the bed and tucked her in next to me. I decided that I'd just go to bed then... it's not like I had anything better to do. I laid there, lost in my thoughts, before I slowly drifted off into sleep.

oooo

The next morning I woke up and, as usual, Rei was not there. I heard her talking to Cid in the living room; he was trying to teach her some more Al Bhed. She really was getting a lot better, and she would always get so excited every time she learned something new. She was able to communicate with the little girl across the street better now that she was learning more words.

I managed to crawl out of bed and I was met by a very excited little girl in the hallway.

"Mommy! E ys rihkno!" She exclaimed as she jumped up and down.

"You're hungry?" I laughed. "Did grandpa teach you new words?"

"Yep!" She said and tugged at my shirt. "E muja oui, mommy!"

"E muja oui, too, sweetie," I picked her up and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I love you too."

She giggled and ran off again after I set her back down.

"She's a pretty smart one, ain't she?" Cid looked at me and grinned. "You 'n brother weren't nearly that smart when you were two."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks dad." I wanted to point out that he wasn't always the brightest one either, but previous experiences told me that I should just keep my mouth shut.

"So, you guys goin' over to Gippal's today?"

I froze. "Um... I don't think we are. Not today."

"Oh. So you can help me with something then? I got loads of machina to fix and it'll take me forever by myself."

"What about Brother?"

"He's already busy. You're better at that kind of stuff than he is anyway. The boy does a good job, but he's too damn slow."

I sighed. "Alright."

Cid smiled. "Great. Rei will have a fun time with us, and it'll be a good experience for her. It's about time you got that girl messing with some machina."

"Dad... she's two."

"So? You 'n Brother were messing with 'em as soon as you could pick 'em up."

"Alright, alright. I'll take her."

oooo

Two hours later, I found myself out in the middle of the noon desert assembling parts and listening to Cid curse every three seconds every time something didn't go right... just like the old days.

I noticed that I wasn't going as fast as I used to, I guessed I was just losing my touch or something. It had been quite a while since I had done this. Oh well, it sounded like I was having an easier time than Cid was. I just hoped Rei wouldn't start repeating all those Al Bhed curse words.

Rei was having a good enough time. Cid tried giving her some pieces to play with, and she messed around with them for a while before she had them assembled and got bored. I was pretty impressed... this girl was definitely Gippal's.

She tried building a sand castle but it kept blowing away every time a wind came. After she gave up on that, she decided to come over and watch me.

"Mommy?" She said quietly and looked up at me with those adorable green eyes.

"Yes?"

"Are we done yet?"

I laughed. "No, sweetie. Grandpa and I are still working."

"Oh." She glanced at the ground and kicked at some sand before looking at me again. "Don't be sad, mommy."

"What?" I looked down at her, confused. "Mommy's not sad. Why would you say that?"

"You look sad." She walked up to me and gave me a small hug before moving a way again.

I smiled at her. "I'm not sad, sweetie. I'm just... thinking."

"Oh. Okay." She smiled and looked up at me again. She stood there for a few moments, just looking at me.

"What is it, honey? Is something wrong?"

"Mommy... when can we see daddy?"

I froze. Did she just say... what I think she said? No... she didn't... did she? "What did you say?"

"I said when can we see daddy?"

She did say it. How does she know? If Cid told her, I'll never forgive him... "Honey... who's daddy?"

She rolled her eyes and made a funny little noise. "The man in the big house. Gippal is daddy."

"Why do you call him that?"

"Because he's my daddy."

"Did grandpa tell you that?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"Just because." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She turned around and started to play in the sand again, leaving me standing there like an idiot. I just stared off into space with my mouth halfway open, wondering how in Spira that little girl knew that Gippal was her father.

"Rikku?" I was broken out of my trance by Cid. "You gonna stare at the sky all day or what?"

"No." I sighed and started working on my machina again. He obviously didn't hear what Rei and I were saying, although I intended to ask him about it later. I wanted to think that Cid was the one who told her, but a part of me just thought that... well, that Rei was telling the truth. She just knew.

It was things like that which made me believe Rei was an amazing little girl. She was so intuitive about everything.

Well, so where do we go from here? Rei now knows that Gippal is her father.

So what's keeping me from marrying him?

I froze for a moment, wondering where the hell that last thought came from. Just because Rei knows about her father doesn't change anything. It's still too soon to get married, whether Rei knows he's family or not.

I couldn't help but admit that her calling Gippal daddy was completely adorable. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she called him that, and I was suddenly struck with a sudden urge to go see him. Why not wait? Why not go now?

I finished up with my machina and walked over to Cid. "Dad, I'm finished. I'm going to take Rei with me to visit Gippal, okay?"

He mumbled a "sure" without even looking up at me. I turned around and ran over to where Rei was playing and I picked her up in my arms.

"Guess what? We're going to see daddy."

oooo

The building was pretty quiet when I got there. The receptionist informed me that Gippal didn't have anything scheduled for the moment so he would probably be hanging around his room or the building somewhere. I thanked her and took Rei with me upstairs. When I got to his floor I whispered for Rei to wait there until I called her and she nodded in excitement. I smiled at her before I tiptoed up the last few steps and looked around. I saw Gippal walk past me and go into his room. I smiled and walked after him.

"Hey, Gippal."

He froze, then turned around slowly. I gave him a small smile and he returned it, but only slightly.

"Look, Gippal, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for yesterday, I overreacted. I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

He smiled again. "I'm sorry, too. You had every right to be upset, you shouldn't have to apologize."

"Yes I should." I walked over to him and gave him a hug, and he laughed as he brushed some sand out of my hair. He let me go and I smiled.

"I brought someone here for you," I grinned mischievously and Gippal gave me a confused look. "Rei, come on out sweetie."

She bounded up the stairs and jumped up into Gippal's arms. "Hi, daddy!" She laughed and hugged him.

Gippal froze and looked at me, confused. I gave him a smile and once he got over the shock he started grinning like an idiot as he hugged Rei even tighter. "Hi, sweetie!"

Rei giggled and jumped out of his arms before running into his room. Gippal looked at me odd. "How did she... when?"

"She figured it out on her own. She just asked me if we were going to see daddy today."

I thought that he wouldn't believe me, but he just gave me a smile and a hug. "She called me daddy."

"Yes. Yes she did. So how does it feel?"

"... wonderful." He kissed my forehead and we let go of each other. I glanced up at him and placed my hands on his cheeks, stoking them with my thumbs. Gippal smiled at me and he placed his hand over mine.

"Gippal... I want to get married." I froze for a moment, not quite knowing what possessed me to say that. I quickly brushed it off, however, when I realized that it didn't really bother me. It was the truth... I honestly wanted to get married.

"You... what?" Gippal raised an eyebrow and gave me a confused look.

"You heard me. I want to marry you. I've been doing some thinking, especially on the way here, and I realized that I want to marry you Gippal. I still think it's a little bit soon, but I believe in us. I believe that this isn't a mistake, and that I won't regret this."

Gippal smiled and gave me a long, sweet kiss. "I promise you, Rikku, you'll never regret it."

I grinned and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Gippal."

He just held me tighter and laughed. "I love you too, Rikku." We let go slightly and he bent down to me and our lips met in a long and loving kiss before we hugged each other once more, not wanting to leave the embrace.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rei standing next to the doorway, a huge grin plastered on her face.

We were finally going to be a real family.