To make up for the slow updates, I wrote a long chapter. This chapter will introduce a new character, but don't worry, she's not a Mary-sue…or at least not intended to be. Either way at least there's something in this fanfic I own.

Chapter 2

"WHAT!" a shrill voice shrieked in the tranquility of Besaid, followed by a baby's cry. Rikku clamped her hands to her mouth once she realized she scared Vidina. Lulu quickly bounced the baby in her arms and soothed away the tears as Wakka whispered, "Quiet, ya? You're scaring Vidina."

"Sorry…" Rikku whispered as the crying died down. She, Gippal, Paine, and Baralai arrived at Besaid to pick up Yuna and the others only to find that Yuna and Tidus were gone.

"So where did they go?" Gippal inquired calmly.

"I dunno," Wakka shrugged, "That Leblanc lady came by a week ago lookin' for Nooj and well…"

"Being the nosey people they are, Yuna and Tidus just had to go help her, right?" Paine finished.

"Yes, but they only did it so Leblanc could rest since she is expecting a baby," Lulu defended. Gippal and Rikku's jaws hung open in surprise from the news. Baralai chuckled and nervously scratched the back of his head. He was still not used to the idea either.

"Um, yeah. I forgot to tell you, Nooj and Leblanc are expecting a new addition to the family," he said lamely.

After a long awkward silence, Gippal cleared his throat, "Nooj is going to be a father? Scary."

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that they got married. Who could even stand staying with her besides her goons?" Rikku wondered.

"Apparently Nooj," Paine replied in an amused tone.

"I think this is along the lines of 'love is blind'," Baralai added before glancing at Gippal, who was deep in thought over something.

"What's wrong Gippal?" Rikku asked when she noticed his behavior.

"This is just a hunch, but if Leblanc visited a week ago and if Tidus and Yuna are traveling by foot and boat, then they must be at the Mi'ihen Highroad by now," he concluded before he grabbed her shoulders, "Let's go before it's too late."

"Oh, wait," she said as pulled away and faced Wakka and Lulu, "You were supposed to get invitations to the wedding and today is the day we were supposed to pick you up. You don't have any other plans do you?"

"No, but this is kinda short notice, ya? What do you think, Lu?"

"I think we should go," she answered and then turned to Rikku, "Give us a few minutes to pack."

"Okay, but hurry it up!" she called to their retreating forms.

Baralai stretched as the group waited in silence for Wakka and Lulu's return. He suddenly remembered last night when Paine mentioned something about Leblanc, "Since Paine saw Leblanc in Bevelle yesterday, then that means she is moving fast on some sort of transportation and it may be hard to find her again."

"Do we want to find her?" Rikku asked in disgust.

"Well considering that both she and Nooj are invited guests to our wedding, I'd say we should," Gippal replied casually.

"That means we'll have to join the search party if we want to find Nooj," Paine sighed as she shook her head.

"Maybe Nooj is at the Highroad. …If only it would be that easy," Baralai mused as Wakka came running back to them while recklessly carrying Vidina in one arm and swinging a suitcase in the other. Lulu followed closely behind, carrying a suitcase of her own as she made sure Wakka wouldn't drop the baby.

"All right! Now we are ready to go!" Rikku cheered before rushing to the Celsius.

Gippal chucked at her impatience before calling out to her retreating form, "We're not in that much of a hurry!"

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Gippal managed to catch up with Rikku as she was about to enter the elevator. Since the others haven't even reached the ramp yet, they were able to enjoy a few minutes of privacy as the elevator started. Once they reached the bridge, Gippal and Rikku quickly pulled away from their kiss since they half expected Brother to be there waiting for them. Fortunately, he wasn't there, much to their relief, but they did hear shouting from behind the door. The couple glanced at each other before continuing on to the bridge, only to be greeted by the sight of Buddy and Brother in the middle of a heated argument.

"It was an octopus!" Brother screamed furiously as he waved his arms wildly in the air. Buddy was calmer than Brother as he crossed his arms over his chest and gently shook his head.

"And I'm telling you it was a squid," he argued, causing Brother's face to redden in anger.

"No! An octopus!"

"A squid!"

"An octopus!"

"A squid!"

"Fryd dra… (What the…)?" Gippal began as he looked at Rikku who only shrugged in response. They became so focused in the argument, they didn't even notice the arrival of the rest of the team.

"Wow, this airship is different from the one we used to travel in-" Wakka trailed off as the two fighting Al Bheds started getting louder.

"Octopus!"

"Squid!"

"Octopus!"

"Squid!"

"Octopus!"

"Who cares?" Paine retorted, effectively silencing them.

"Yeah," Rikku agreed, "besides, what's the difference between a squid and an octopus anyway?"

"Well, an octopus has eight legs where as a squid has nine," someone answered from behind the group. Everyone turned to find Shinra looking back at them.

"Shinra? What are you doing here?" Rikku asked in shock.

"I was the first guest to arrive, remember? Brother said he told you I was here," he explained while walking past everyone.

When what he said registered her mind, Rikku's cheeks became as red as Brother's was a moment ago before Gippal let out another 'not again' sigh. She was about to scream when sirens went off, alerting the crew to go to their designated places.

"Got a call from Rin," Buddy announced as he downloaded the signal, "he says his daughter, Nadeshia, has been kidnapped."

"Nadie?" Brother yelled before jumping to his pilot seat, "Move out!"

"Wait a minute!" Rikku called before the order could be carried out, "How do we know she didn't run away again? Besides, I wouldn't mind if we forget to search for her."

"Huh? Why?" Gippal wondered with fake innocence.

"Because she was mean to me back then! She'd always trip me-"

"So you'd fall into my arms," Gippal added almost under his breath as Rikku continued to rant.

"And then there was that time she pulled my seat away just as I was sitting down-"

"And then you landed in my lap" he finished for her as Paine smirked in an evil way.

"So this is the girl who is your 'favorite person because she helps keep my angel in my arms'?" she teased while crossing her arms.

Gippal's eye widened as he ran to her and whispered, "Quiet Dr. P, we promised that what ever went on during Crimson Squad training stays there."

"I never promised anything," she scoffed, "It was you, Nooj, and Baralai who agreed to it."

"Speaking of the Crimson Squad, is this the same Nadie we saw in Bikanel?" Baralai asked, causing the grin to fade on Paine's face.

She arched an eyebrow as she switched her gaze from Gippal to Baralai, "Are you talking about that little girl who was walking around the desert in a daze?"

"What? You mean she managed to get that far away from Home?" Rikku inquired as everyone faced Gippal.

"Yeah, that's the one. If Baralai hadn't spotted her, she might have found what she was looking for," he finally responded after directing his eye to briefly glance at the floor.

"Found what she was lookin' for?" Wakka echoed in a confused tone before Shinra walked to the front of the bridge.

"In the days of Sin, Nadeshia used to be a deathseeker and ran away constantly, but now she only runs away because her father is trying to find a suitable man to marry her off to," Shinra explained. He then made his way back to his terminal as Paine began to ask a question.

"She used to be a deathseeker? Like Nooj?"

Rikku waved her hand in front of her face to dismiss the idea, "Sort of. She sought her death for a different reason, but because of her condition, Home was not only built for the Al Bhed, but also to keep her safe from anything that could harm her."

"And Home was also the place where Rikku and Gippal's complicated relationship became her plaything," Shinra chuckled in the background, earning glares from the mentioned couple.

"Who asked you Shinra?" Rikku said childishly and stuck her tongue out at him, "Anyway, we don't have to worry about this mission. Things are different now."

"But what happened that caused her to become a deathseeker?" Lulu inquired, only to be interrupted by Brother.

"Who cares? We need to go find Nadie NOW!" he shouted frantically. Baralai and Paine glanced at each other. They both noticed something strange about his behavior.

"He really needs a girlfriend huh?" Baralai mused while Paine thought the same thing.

Buddy faced everyone when the download was complete, "Rin reported that there were signs of a struggle in front of and inside Nadie's room. He has more information for us at the Moonflow. Should we go?"

"YES!" Brother screamed from the cockpit, but was ignored.

"We're going to the Mi'ihen Highroad, we don't have time for this," Rikku whined.

"But it still is dangerous for her to be out in the open like that," Gippal reasoned as he rubbed his chin.

"Not to mention the danger for anyone who comes in contact with her," Shinra muttered under his breath so no one could hear.

"Plus, Yuna and Tidus are probably already on this mission too," Paine sighed while slowly shaking her head.

"You too, Paine?" Rikku asked in shock.

"No, I'm just stating a fact."

"Either way, they would end up reaching the Moonflow once they finish searching the Highroad for Nooj," Baralai pointed out before Shinra announced the final blow.

"The comspheres picked up Yuna and Tidus' signal at the Moonflow."

"Hn, Paine was right," Wakka replied before Paine could say "See?" to Rikku.

"Alright, if they are at the Moonflow, then let's go!" Rikku cheered, grateful that they found her cousin and her boyfriend.

"Yahoo!" Brother squealed with joy, this time making Gippal and Rikku notice him.

"He seems…excited," Paine pointed out.

"Maybe the girlfriend issue already solved itself," Gippal snickered before Rikku looked appalled.

"Uh! No! Not even Nadie deserves such a horrible punishment!"

"She could at least hold his attention until after the wedding," Gippal suggested.

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Lightning flashed and was followed closely by its brother, thunder, as it rained heavily like it does everyday in the Thunder Plains. Sitting in the middle of the chaotic weather on top of a hill was Nooj. He was so deep in thought, he didn't even flinch when lightning struck a nearby tower, nor did he care about the fact that he was completely drenched from the torrents of rain. The only thing that pulled him out of his trance was the sound of a young woman screaming, "Leave me alone!"

Nooj strained his eyes through the fog and was able to see what looked like to be a fifteen year old girl in a long black dress being chased by three men.

"Come on sweet thing!" one of the men called, "If you're worried about it that much, then we'll marry you!"

"I don't want to marry drnaa ikmo bekc (three ugly pigs)!" she cried as she tried to run faster.

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"Yunie!" Rikku shouted joyously as she tackled Yuna into a hug. Tidus stared at the two girls and soon joined the hug since he didn't like to be left out.

"Hey! Get your hands off of my fiancé!" Gippal said jokingly to Tidus.

"Come and join us! You know you want to," Tidus taunted, "Group hug!"

"I don't do hugs…" Paine muttered as Gippal shrugged and joined in.

"Yes you do," Baralai argued playfully, "What do you call this?"

He tightened his arm around her waist.

"Okay, I don't do 'group hugs'," she admitted.

Wakka and Lulu only watched as the group hug continued. Wakka and Vidina grinned at the sight (or more precisely, Wakka was grinning and Vidina was being cute) while Lulu looked bored. Paine remembered in the back of her mind that Lulu told her that Tidus pulled stunts like this often in the past so she was used to his weirdness.

"What are you doing here, Rikku?" Yuna asked once she had the chance to pull away.

"It's a long story," Rikku started before taking a deep breath, "It all started when Gippal decided to pick up the guests a week early so we could have some fun so we wrote out the invitations. I told Gippal to deliver them, but he was busy on a project so he gave them to Buddy while Buddy was away on vacation so then Brother ended up getting the invitations and burned them. When I found out about this, I tried to strangle Brother and then we went to Besaid after we picked up Paine and Baralai in Bevelle. We found out from Wakka and Lulu that you guys were not there so we started searching for you and here you are."

"Breathe Rikku," Paine reminded her before Rikku gasped and took deep breaths. Both Yuna and Tidus blinked before the story made sense in their minds.

The only thing they could say after that was, "…Oh…"

After an awkward silence, Tidus eventually opened his mouth, "We're searching for-"

"They know. We told them already, ya?" Wakka interrupted, earning a pout and a glare from Tidus.

"Hey, did you guys know that Rin has a daughter?" Yuna inquired before he could have a chance to complain.

"Duh, every Al Bhed knows about Nadie," Gippal replied. Rikku nudged him in the ribs to make him be quiet. But before she could apologize for his rude answer, Rin appeared.

"Have you come to help search for my daughter?" He sounded calm, but his eyes and expression showed that he was worried.

"Well, actually, we only came for-" Rikku was cut off as Gippal used one arm to pulled her closer to him before covering her mouth with his free hand.

"Yes, we are," he said, ignoring the muffled protests from Rikku.

"It's not like you to get involved in things like this," Paine pointed out, skeptically as Baralai's head tilted in suspicion.

"Why do you want to search for her?"

Without letting go of Rikku, Gippal faced them with a fake grin and a serious gleam in his eye, "I was in charge of the construction of the area she lives in. I designed it so that there was no way she could leave without somebody noticing. I want to see how she was able to escape, let alone get kidnapped."

"You will be greatly disappointed at how easily she got away," Rin warned as he gestured towards the path that led to the new Home.

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The young woman continued running through the muck as the suddenly strong winds whipped at her shoulder length light brown hair. It wasn't long before the thick mud caught her legs and forced her to fall on her hands and knees. She quickly faced the bandits as they approached her. She placed her bare, muddy left hand on the fingerless glove covering her right hand.

"Don't come any closer or I'll…" she threatened as she pulled on the thick black leather that covered her hand. The men laughed as they stopped a few feet away from her.

"You can't do anything to us," one of the bandits jeered, "We haven't said a thing about your precious Al Bhed."

"But I can't still… No, stop! Go away! I don't want to kill!" she cried helplessly as the men ignored her warnings and came closer. She closed her eyes as she shakily raised her hand, her left hand ready to peel off the glove. She flinched when she heard grunts of pain, followed by the sound of heavy bodies falling into the mud. She cracked one eye open to find the bandits unconscious and another man holding out his hand to help her up.

"Are you alright?" Nooj asked in a rather monotone voice. The girl hesitated before taking his hand. Once she did, lightning flashed, allowing Nooj to see that she had Al Bhed eyes.

"Y-you didn't-" she began to say while glancing at the bodies.

"I didn't kill them, I only knocked them out," he explained, earning a relieved look from her. He glanced around the area to see if there were more bandits after her, "We better leave this place, before they wake up."

He watched patiently as her relieved expression melted away into a confused one.

"Where do we go from here?"

Nooj shrugged slightly, "Maybe to the Moonflow?"

The girl's eyes widened in recognition of the place as she seemed to cheer up a little. Nooj had a feeling she was from the Moonflow since that's where the new Home was being rebuilt.

"Yes, that would be…" she trailed off as her mood quickly grew sullen. While only staring at the ground, she picked up the skirt of her now mud drenched dress and took a few steps forward, "On second thought, maybe not."

"Then how about Macalania or the Calm Lands?"

He couldn't think of a reason on why she didn't want to return to the Moonflow, but didn't dwell on it too long when she meekly answered, "Okay."

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The half built Home stood proudly among the trees of the Moonflow as Rikku and the others arrived. Although the Al Bhed no longer have a use for Home, Cid stubbornly laid out plans to have it rebuilt anyway and said it could be used as an orphanage or boarding house for all of Spira. Gippal's Machine Faction greeted the team as the continued their construction work with machina.

"You see, Nadie is only half Al Bhed, like you Yunie," Rikku explained as Rin led them past some guards and into a long metal hallway, "But even though she didn't look like an Al Bhed at first glance, she couldn't blend in with Yevonites because of her cursed hand."

"Cursed hand?" Tidus prodded to keep her talking.

"Nadie has a crest in her right hand that forces her to murder anyone who bad mouths the Al Bhed. The crest's power can set the victim's body on fire from within," Gippal answered in Rikku place.

"A crest? Lulu, isn't crest magic related to your area of magic?" Yuna inquired as she faced her.

Lulu shifted Vidina in her arms before responding, "It is common for black mages to tattoo crests in their skin so they can have better control over certain spells, but crest magic is controlled magic. I fail to see how this one can force anyone to do anything."

"She can consciously use the crest when it comes to self defense, but other than that, it controls her because it's not hers," Rin finally replied without looking back, "Her mother placed it on her before she died."

"I can see why she was a deathseeker," Baralai commented with a grim expression, "I almost wanted to die when Shuyin possessed me and made me to revive Vegnagun."

At the mentioning of Shuyin, Paine wanted to change the subject before Baralai could dwell on the past, but with the current topic the only question she could think of was "How many have been destroyed by the curse?"

"Only ten, the first one occurred when she was three," Rin answered. Rikku caught on about what Paine was doing and quickly continued her story.

"The curse was why we practically locked her up in Home. That way she could be around people that the crest wouldn't attack. …But if we left her alone long enough she would try to run away." Rin stopped in front of a bedroom that was destroyed by a large metal door. Across from it was a hole in the steel wall leading outside. The edges of the hole clearly showed that the metal was melted off. Gippal touched the sides of the opening while scowling at the damage.

"I made sure the walls were made with anti-curse charms imbedded in them. How was she able to break through?"

Rikku shrugged and guessed, "Maybe she had some kind of dispel charm?"

"You're finding this funny aren't you?" Gippal accused when he heard her hold back a giggle.

"A little…It's not everyday you mess up this bad." Rikku squealed when Gippal grabbed her and messed up her hair in response to her comment.

"Why do you lock her up in Home now? Not many people dislike the Al Bhed anymore so wouldn't it be safe for her leave?" Tidus wondered as Rikku struggled get away from Gippal.

"Even so, she still believes that the world would be better off without her and would die willingly at hands of fiends," Rin sighed as Shinra, Brother, and Buddy came in through the hole.

"There is also no guarantee that she might not run into someone who still holds a grudge against the Al Bhed," Shinra added before he started inspecting the damage in the bedroom.

"We seem to be forgetting the fact that someone kidnapped her. Someone out there wants her power," Lulu stated as she handed Vidina to Wakka and looked over the damage with Shinra.

Gippal finally put Rikku down as he glanced in Lulu's direction, "I don't think anyone kidnapped her… at least not yet. The hole in this wall is definitely caused by Nadie's curse, not by some bomb."

"I don't know about you guys, but I think we should search for her now before it's too late," Yuna ordered.

"Then let's move out!" Brother shouted enthusiastically before glaring at Gippal, "…except for Gippal he's not allowed on the ship."

"Brother!" Rikku scolded as she hit him in the back of his head.

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The end of the Thunder Plains was in sight and no one has attacked so far. Nooj briefly glanced at the strange girl in the corner of his eye and wondered why he was going out of his way to help her.

"Probably because I'm getting nowhere with my own problem," he reasoned in his mind. He also wondered why she was able to immediately trust him right after she was chased by bandits. It was possible that she knew him, but he was sure he never met her before. Then again, he was famous now and nearly all of Spira knew who he was.

"You're Nooj of the Youth League, right?" she finally asked, confirming his thoughts.

"Yes, that's right. What's your name?"

"My name is Nadeshia… I'm a deathseeker, like you."

Nooj raised an eyebrow. She looked too serious to be joking.

"You're too young to be thinking about death," he replied. He nearly laughed when he remembered that Gippal used to say the same thing to him years ago.

"I know, but I have my reasons," she mumbled while picking at her glove.

"If you were really a deathseeker, then you wouldn't have been running away from those bandits," he said before wiping the rain water off of his face.

"They were not going to kill me, they only wanted to torture me."

She stared out in the distance before facing Nooj, "Wanna know why I didn't want to go to the Moonflow?"

Nooj noticed that she sounded a little happier now, but he didn't bother to respond as she decided to tell him anyway.

"I didn't want to go there because my father would have me locked up in my room until Home was finished. Now that I'm free, I want to try to find a purpose in life, so I can stop being a deathseeker," she explained with a small smile on her face. Nooj bit back a chuckle. It sounded like a naïve idea coming from a child. No one can easily rebuild their life and forget their past regrets and crimes, but then again, no one said it was impossible. Baralai was able to continue living after the defeat of Vegnagun without showing signs of depression. Nooj knew what it was like to be controlled by a 1000 year old ghost. Baralai should have reacted the same way he did when he was released from Shuyin, but no, he returned to Bevelle, told his secret crush that he loved her, and continued to live his life. What was it that Baralai had that Nooj did not?

"Is that even possible?" he wondered while he glanced at her.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to find out."

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This chapter is dedicated to the word 'octopus' because without it, the argument probably could've made sense. Thanks for the good reviews everyone! I'll try to update sooner, but first I'll need my school to burn down so I can stop receiving homework. Before I go, I need to point out to the people who have seen InuYasha (actually this message is mostly for Sorceress Ki and my spell checkers) that Miroku and Nadie's cursed hands are NOT related. Nadie was created in my mind way before I knew of Miroku's existence.