Happiness is Overrated

Summary: Rikku has a one-night stand that was never supposed to happen. It turns into something that was never meant to be. Can this odd relationship turn Rikku back into the person she once was or break her more than she is already broken?

Disclaimer: Don't own FFX or FFX-2.

A/N: Gets a little steamy.

Prologue

It was a joyous day in Luca.

The High Summoner Yuna was getting married today.

Two years after the defeat of Vegnagun, Lady Yuna was finally marrying her former guardian, Tidus. Their close friends had waited and waited for a year and a half before Tidus actually had the guts to propose and Yuna said yes.

The couple had wanted a nice quiet wedding on Besaid Island, but their friends had told them this was crazy. Once everyone found out, they would want to attend the wedding and Besaid wasn't large enough to do this.

Yuna and Tidus relented, choosing to have the wedding in Luca's stadium for all of Spira while they would have a much smaller reception in one of Rin's Lucan hotels for friends and family only.

Their friends were right.

As soon as the wedding was announced, Spira's population went into a frenzy. For the six months leading up to the wedding, that was all anyone talked about.

The day of the wedding had Luca buzzing in excitement. Already, the stadium was becoming packed, people waiting at the entrance a week in advance.

Beneath the stadium, the bride and groom were getting ready in separate locker rooms, their bridesmaids and groomsmen with them.

At the moment, the three bridesmaids watched Yuna fidget nervously as her hair was getting done. She was already wearing her dress, a white spaghetti-strapped silk dress that flowed down to the floor gracefully.

"Stop moving Yuna," Lulu, Yuna's Maid of Honor said, as she watched her friend, someone she considered a sister. "You'll ruin the hair and the dress."

"I'm so nervous!" Yuna exclaimed.

"There's nothing to be nervous of Yuna," Paine, her second bridesmaid, added. "You're getting married today after waiting six months!"

"But what if something goes wrong? All of Spira is here to watch! I'll be an embarrassment!"

Lulu and Paine looked at Rikku, Yuna's final bridesmaid and cousin to say something. The Al Bhed smiled. "Yunie," she told her cousin slowly," there's nothing to be worried about. You're getting married in front of all your friends and family who love you and all of Spira who adore you and wish you the best. And most importantly, you'll be marrying Tidus, the one person you loved and spent two and a half years trying to find. Don't worry. It'll all work out."

A dreamy smile appeared on Yuna's face. "Yeah," she said to herself. "It'll be perfect."

Lulu and Paine shot Rikku grateful smiles for calming Yuna down.

Nobody in the room noticed how Rikku's smile seemed forced and how pained her face was. All they saw was the same cheerful Rikku.

Gippal sighed as he sat at his table alone. Yuna had been married to Tidus and now everyone was in Rin's newest hotel for the reception. Dinner was over and now couples were dancing on the dance floor.

The wedding had been nothing short of spectacular. Of course, Gippal didn't expect anything else. He had been in the top box along with Nooj, Leblanc, Baralai, and many other close friends of Yuna and Tidus.

The ceremony had started out with the usual procession, bridesmaids and such. Then, Cid walked Yuna down the aisle. Since her father, Braska, was dead, the honor was passed onto her uncle.

The Yevon priest, Gippal forgot his name, gave a wonderful speech on the soon-to-be-married couple and the ceremony was on the way.

It really was amazing to see the whole stadium be quiet for a few hours.

So, here he was now, watching couples dancing on the dance floor. Yuna and Tidus were dancing together, obviously. Paine was dancing with Baralai. The two had started to date four months ago, much to everyone's surprise. Nooj was with Leblanc. Those two had gotten married a year ago, much to Gippal's surprise. He was still slightly repulsed by the couple, but hey, if they were happy.

Gippal sighed again. He needed a drink. Standing up, the Machine Faction leader slowly made his way to the bar. He fidgeted with the collar of his tux. Man, he hated wearing these things. If he could, he would've worn his usual clothing, but Nooj and Baralai had persuaded him against it.

With the bar in sight, Gippal quickened his pace. There was nobody there except the bartender and a woman.

She looked very familiar, Gippal thought to himself. But his mind couldn't form a name. She was probably Al Bhed though, because she had the trademark blonde hair.

Gippal sat down two seats away from this mysterious woman and ordered himself a beer. He sipped slowly, trying to figure out who this woman was.

"Another one please," she said.

"Cid's Girl?" Gippal asked in surprise, his mouth dropping down. He couldn't believe it. There, sitting next to him, was Rikku, someone he hadn't seen for over a year.

Part of him wondered why he didn't even think of looking for Rikku at the wedding. She was Yuna's cousin. He wasn't at the rehearsal dinner last night because of a sudden emergency with some machina. Today, during the ceremony, he had seen a blonde-haired bridesmaid, but for some reason, his mind didn't register her as Rikku.

Rikku, Princess of the Al Bhed, looked at Gippal. "Hello Gippal," she said, nodding before returning to her new drink.

That was odd. There was no, "I have a name," or "Stop calling me that," but a few words as if she didn't care. And Rikku always cared about that.

When her gaze was reverted, Gippal took the time to study the former Gullwing. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Rikku looked gorgeous. Sure, when he had seen her two and half years ago for the first time in two years, he had to admit that Cid's Girl really had grown up, but wow, she looked amazing.

She wore one of the bridesmaids' dresses, which was a strapless, emerald green one that hugged her body in all the right places. Her hair was up in an elegant bun with wisps of hair streaming down her face, giving her an angelic look.

One different thing about Rikku that Gippal was able to notice were her eyes. Before, they always were shining with happiness, but now, they had a dull look.

Gippal wondered what was wrong.

Moving over a seat, Gippal looked at Rikku again. "How have you been?" he asked. "I haven't seen you for the past year and a half."

"That's because I've been at the Baaj Temple, excavating for machina."

"I see." The Celsius has been found there after all. "Find anything?"

Rikku nodded, taking another sip of her drink. "Two airships. They're both bigger than the Celsius. We've started to work on the first one and the second one will be starting soon too."

Her voice sounded devoid of any emotion, as if she didn't care. He really wondered what was wrong.

There was a silence between the two. Gippal sipped his beer while Rikku sipped her own drink, probably a cocktail.

Gippal finally decided to ask the question on his mind. "You seem……… different," he stated softly.

Rikku turned to face him. "How so?" she asked.

The Machine Faction leader shrugged. "You seem less happy than you usually do."

"Happy?" Rikku repeated, arching an eyebrow. After Gippal nodded, she gave a bitter laugh, which was so uncharacteristic for her. "I found that after years of making people happy and not being made happy in return that happiness is overrated."

There obviously was some reason to this new philosophy of Rikku's, but Gippal didn't want to push it. "So," he said, motioning to her drink," you decided to drink away your problems."

"Exactly."

"Well," Gippal replied, chuckling to himself," your drink isn't going to do that. You need the harder liquor, brandy, scotch, you know."

A small smile graced Rikku's face, showing a glimpse of what Rikku once was. "I take it you get drunk a lot."

Gippal nodded. "Yep."

Rikku smiled at Gippal before turning to the bartender and ordered herself a glass of brandy.

Deciding to keep Rikku company, Gippal ordered himself a brandy as well.

If she was unhappy, then all Gippal could do was join her in her misery.

It was a little after midnight and the wedding reception was still going strong. It was probably going to go on a few more hours before people would start going to their hotel rooms for a few hours of sleep.

Because of this, the halls were empty.

Well, except for two people.

Two very drunk people.

Gippal and Rikku walked down the halls of the hotel, swaying dangerously and talking very loudly. They had drunk a lot and had gotten drunk. This was pretty unusual for Al Bhed who could hold their liquor very well, but if they drank a lot, what was happening to Gippal and Rikku was very common.

"And then Pops decided to teach Brother a lesson on how to fix engines!" Rikku exclaimed as she told a story to her drunken friend. "So he decides to work on the Celsius, but the engine goes boom!" She began to laugh loudly.

Gippal laughed as well. "Cid always sucked at fixing machina," he said.

Rikku nodded. "Poor Brother almost had a heart attack." The Al Bhed Princess began to sway dangerously, almost falling to the ground.

"Whoa!" Gippal exclaimed, reaching out and preventing Rikku from falling over. His arm slid around her waist as he pulled her close to him. "Don't want you to get hurt."

"My hero," Rikku murmured, looking into Gippal's eye.

The two stood there for a few minutes before Gippal leaned in towards Rikku's ear. "You wanna know a secret?" he whispered softly.

Rikku shivered at his breath on her ear. "S-sure," she replied quietly.

"I think you're very hot."

The young woman grinned at Gippal suggestively as he pulled away. She stood on her tiptoes. "You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"I think you're hot too."

"Then you won't mind if I do this." Gippal leaned in and kissed Rikku on the lips.

It wasn't too long before Rikku began to kiss Gippal back wholeheartedly.

Gippal pushed Rikku back into the wall, attacking her lips furiously before he tore his lips away from hers and began to place kisses on her neck.

Rikku gave a slight moan as she ran her fingers through Gippal's hair. "People are going to see Gippal," she said breathlessly. "We can't. Not here."

She was right. People would be leaving the party soon and if they saw the two, there would be questions. "My room," he growled, breaking away from Rikku's skin. Without waiting for a response, he picked her up.

Rikku's legs wrapped themselves around Gippal's waist. She didn't say anything, but smiled as she leaned in to kiss him again. After a few moments, she broke apart. "So, uh, where is your room?" she asked.

"At the end of the hall," Gippal replied as he began to walk towards his hotel room.

"Okay."

The kissing began again. Gippal found it hard to concentrate on walking while kissing Rikku at the same time, but he managed. He finally stood in front of his door and began looking for his key card.

Rikku let him concentrate on this while she touched his hair. "You have very pretty hair," she muttered, giggling slightly. "Pretty hair!"

Gippal finally found his key card and inserted into the slot, allowing the door to open. He stepped inside and closed the door.

Rikku dropped her purse and shoes, which she somehow had managed to hold onto. She grinned seductively before she leaned in to kiss Gippal again.

The kiss grew very intense as Gippal slowly walked towards the bed. While they were kissing, he began to unzip the back of Rikku's dress while she began unbuttoning Gippal's shirt.

More clothes were shed as the two finally made it to the bed. The two fully gave into the drunken passion that made them do something they never would have done if they were sober.

The first thing that came to Rikku's mind when she woke up was the fact that she had a major headache. Opening her eyes, she noticed sun streaming in through the window. It hurt her eyes.

Great.

She had gotten drunk last night.

It was then that Rikku noticed an arm draped around her stomach. That meant one thing.

She had a one-night stand too.

This was wonderful. She would have to wait until this person woke up and then tell him that she didn't want a relationship, that it was only one time and meant nothing.

It was then that Rikku discovered she wasn't in her hotel room. She knew this because she had three duffle bags in her room, which weren't there anymore. So, she was in someone else's room.

Good. That meant Rikku could easily get out and never have to see the man again.

Out of curiosity, Rikku turned her head to see whom she had slept with when she got the biggest shock of her life.

Gippal.

Oh dear Spira.

She had slept with Gippal.

Of all the people at the party last night, it had to be Gippal.

The Al Bhed Princess closed her eyes, trying to remember the previous night. It had been Yunie's wedding reception and she had been at the bar, drinking a cocktail. Then Gippal came. They talked for a while in which they kept drinking.

That was the last thing she clearly remembered. She vaguely remembered Gippal kissing her, but after that, everything was fuzzy.

Rikku groaned quietly to herself. She didn't want this. She sat up and began looking for her clothes. Spotting them, Rikku decided to quickly change and leave before Gippal would wake up. She would never tell him what happened and hoped he wouldn't remember.

She got out of the bed, wrapping one of the many blankets tightly around her body. The young woman quickly put on her bra, underwear, and dress; not even caring if everything was on the right way. She had to get out. She grabbed her purse and shoes and made for the door.

Her hand was reaching for the handle when, "Rikku?"

Crap.

Turning around, Rikku saw that Gippal was sitting up, looking at her with a confused look. He obviously didn't remember anything either.

Man, they had to have been really wasted last night.

"Uh hi Gippal," Rikku said in what she hoped was a casual voice, but was probably really nervous. She made sure to avoid his eye or bare chest. "I, uh, can't stay. Gotta go. Bye!" She ran out of the room before Gippal could say a word.

Thankfully, her hotel room was a floor up so Gippal couldn't come after her. The halls were empty which was another bonus. She wouldn't have to be so embarrassed.

Rikku was in front of her door in a minute, running as if Vegnagun was after her. She wished nobody would see her.

But sadly, Paine had just closed the door to her own room when she noticed Rikku. Taking in her friend's very haggard appearance, a smile came across Paine's face. "Rough night?" she asked amusedly.

Rikku looked at her friend and sighed. "I did something very very stupid last night Paine," she said in a quiet voice.

"Is it the 'I said the wrong word at the wrong time stupid,' or the 'I am going to lust after my cousin,' stupid?"

"The second one," Rikku replied, putting her face in her hands. She groaned.

"What happened?" Paine asked, her voice laced with concern. The stoic warrior had never seen bubbly Rikku like this.

"I slept with Gippal."

A/N: Please review! I also fixed the mistake with the Celsius. It's been a while since I actually got that part in the game.