A/N: Yay! Here's chapter 5! Sorry for the long wait. I should be studying for finals right now. They're in 3 days. That's why this is a short chapter. If I didn't do this now, this story will never be finished.
Chp. 5: We Can Never Go BackRikku woke up feeling groggy. It was definitely not the best way to wake up. She was on the ground over the towels while the two books were next to her. A small smile formed on her face. She was glad for the moment that Gippal wasn't here. She will have to sort everything out. Yesterday was definitely a moody day.
"I'll have to put these books somewhere special. I know, today is officially house cleaning day!" She got up and took a step forward, only to trip from the towels.
"Owies! That hurt!" Rikku rubbed her forehead and started to glare at the towels.
"Shower! Shoot! Oh well, I'll clean and then shower. I'll get dirty cleaning anyways." Rikku took the towels to the bathroom and set them in the drawers. Then she got towards the kitchen to start cleaning in the kitchen. She started on the dishes and organizing the cabinets. It was all pretty organized so the room was pretty clean. What the kitchen needed most was scrubbing and polishing.
"He's sure going to be surprised! I'll just have to make sure that I don't look at anything he doesn't want me to!" After she was done with the kitchen, she went into the living room. She got several rags and a bucket full of cleaning materials and water. She knew where they were because they were in the same closet as the towels. She picked up a picture of Gippal's mother and saw a picture slip out. When Rikku picked it up, she saw Gippal and herself in a field of flowers. Gippal was in a white shirt and khakis while Rikku was in a blue shirt with a white skirt.
"This is…this is my mother's garden!" She took the picture and sat on a chair.
" This is when we were little…we were so carefree, not realizing that everything would change." Rikku laid back and tried to not about the memories of their last days. It was one she won't forget, but she sometimes wanted to forget.
Flashback"WHAT! WHY!" A little Rikku was hitting her father's legs while fresh tears were streaming down her eyes. Her father looked like his daughter's behavior was irritating him. To the side was Gippal looking down at the floor and his mother was looking at her son. Gippal's father looked stressed.
"Rikku! We need them to check out this city to see if there are Al Bhed haters! Don't you want to move out of Home and to better places?" Rikku looked angrier.
"NO! HOME IS CALLED HOME BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE WE BELONG! THAT'S WHAT MOMMY SAID! WAAAH!" Rikku started crying badly. Her father stood up, ready to scream at her, but Gippal was ahead. Once he heard Rikku crying he went over to her. Gippal hugged Rikku and started singing.
"It's bedlam, and memories are brimming
To the unalloyed voice almost deserting
To my dear who have just started walking,
Never ended future is eternal
In reality, belief is easy to shaken,
Everybody get hurt (cracked).
I get wet by the just come on rain
And you halt up again, but
You still be faithful to me
Higher than anyone, closer to the sky
I'm gathering the brightness seek for the lights
If I burn out, it's all very fine
Everything is with a truth.
"The boy see the enmity in the human's inside"
Those ways I don't want see anything, anything, anything, anything.
(On the scale of memories, a hurt expression need to hundreds of love to cure.
Though, heart that is just like small pebbles on the beach buffeted by the seas, and has many scratched, Love is bringing up)
Still I'm thinking about you,
Even the season goes by
Close my eyes and always think of you as scenery
Any number of times rain has been stoppedOh my dearest, oh my hopeless wish
Why love is born of my heart
Blooming flowers are swinging
It comes down to dusky mother earth that is love
It's bedlam, and memories are brimming
To the unalloyed voice almost deserting
To my dear who have just started walking,
I'll tribute never ended future
Stairway to heaven
Labyrinth to heart"
Rikku's crying quieted down. No matter what, her hearing him sing that song always quieted her down. Rikku had once again quieted down and just clutched at Gippal's shirt tighter. Gippal smiled at this and Rikku's father let out a sigh.
"Cid, maybe I should be the only one to go. There's no need for all three of us to go." Gippal's father spoke in a confident tone, looking straight at Rikku's father.
"My decision is final. Even if Rikku doesn't agree with this, she must learn that not everything will go her way." When Rikku heard this, she ran out of the building and continued running. Gippal looked at Cid.
"Old man, you're not a great father, are you?" Then, he ran towards the direction that Rikku did.
"Rikki! Rikki, where are you?" He was in the garden closest to Rikku's home. This was the garden that Rikku's mother usually tends to.
"Gip?" Rikku was crying next to the fountain surrounded by sunflowers. Gippal walked towards her and sat down next to her.
"Everything will be alright if we always hope to see each other, don't you think?" Rikku shook her head in disagreement.
"I'll be lonely without Gip! Won't…Gip be lonely without me?" Gippal smiled for her.
"Of course I will, but we'll see each other, promise!" Rikku smiled.
"Now, here's a present for both of you!" Rikku's mother appeared in front of them, holding out a red book for Gippal and an orange one for Rikku. Both of them had the word Memory written in gold.
"What's this, mommy?" asked Rikku.
"A scrapbook. It has pictures of you two together. This will connect you two together…in a sense. Now, don't you just want to hug mommy and say thank you to mommy?" Rikku ran into her mom and hugged her tightly, and Gippal did the same.
End Flashback
This was the last picture they took while they were together. Her mother took the picture and gave it to him right before he left. That was the last time they spent their time together in the garden. In fact, it was the last time they had time together. That was the last time that she cried for anyone. It was her unspoken promise to him. The promise was to not cry and try to be happy for him, and for the most part, she kept her promise to him. Many times, she was close to breaking her unspoken promise, but she was able to smile. In fact, she can now smile and act happy even when she is pretty depressed. She let out a sigh and looked at the picture.
"We can never go back to those days, can we? I guess it's as pops puts it, memories are nice, but we have to move on. Well, I should start cleaning again. Rikku picked up the cloth and started wiping off dust and other stuff. In a few hours, everything was cleaned. The cleaning made the place look completely different. It was definitely more like a home now. As a treat to herself, she made a nice lunch.
"Ahh!" Rikku let out a yawn.
"I should sleep now! I feel so tired…" Rikku fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up, there was a pretty heavy coat over her. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. When her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she saw a pair of boots on the table in front of her.
"Who…?" said Rikku.
"Not who, angel, but what! Those are my boots."
"…boots…?" Rikku said. She was still half asleep. When it registered to her that the boots were on the table, she sat up.
"I cleaned everything for you and you put boots on the table!" Gippal answered her by picking her up and started going for the hallway. Rikku screamed and kicked and demanded for him to put her down, but he just continued on with a look of pain now and then. Once they reached Rikku's room, he set her down and motioned for her to open her room. When she opened the door and went inside, she saw a bouquet of sunflowers and the clothes she left at home.
"How…my clothes…here…" Rikku's mind was running through endless possibilities. Did he tell them? Did he break in? Did he send someone? Then there was the bouquet of sunflowers. Did he remember the day before he left? Gippal answered her unspoken first question.
"After the meeting, I broke into your house. Funny thing is, it wasn't hard at all. That mansion's inside is like an exact replica of your old home. Your father must miss his old home a lot…" Gippal stopped when Rikku hugged him and started crying.
"I would slap you for being so reckless…but…thank you so much Gippal! The sunflowers…they're…you remembered…?" Rikku was trying to talk through her sobs.
"Of course I remember, you stupid angel. It's a precious memory, so how could I forget? You should know that because I kept the album and picture book." Rikku nodded her head, and then stared at the ceiling with a questioning look. Gippal called her stupid and angel in the same sentence. Was she supposed to feel insulted or happy?
"You called me angel," said Rikku. Gippal placed his hand on Rikku's head while walking out of her room.
"That's because you're my angel." With that he left the room. Rikku turned bright red and was left speechless. This wasn't Gippal. It COULDN'T be Gippal. Gippal was cocky, arrogant, lazy, and most of all, not a sweet guy!
'That was just…I mean…he could be sweet…' She took one long glance at where he retreated.
'He did go through all the trouble just to bring her clothes back. Most people are either to selfish or inconsiderate or whatever to do that.' She shook off the thoughts and decided to go in her room and sing Niji. That should make her feel better.
A/N: Yep, another short chapter. I already have a storyline for this story, and it's not exactly the happiest one, so be prepared for tears (ahem, by that I mean Rikku and Gippal crying…).
