Gippal's usual happy-go-lucky expression was turned to a darker side. He frowned as he sat, staring into the distance on deck of the Celcius. Rikku's disappearance changed him inside and out. Something deeper inside bothered him… but Paine was the only one there who could see it.
She walked up the steps onto the deck and walked to where her old friend sat. She sat next to him and stared out into the distance as well. For about five minutes, there was silence. Then Gippal spoke up.
"What do you want?" he asked bluntly.
"I would like to know what's wrong."
"I would think that it's obvious."
"Yeah, Rikku's gone but… it's more than that. I can tell…"
"Nothing else is wrong!"
"…"
Silence for another minute.
"Rikku never knew. She didn't understand how much I appreciated her wise-cracks. Her comments, her joyfulness… Just being herself, a dimwitted blonde. But a funny, and talented one. She never knew… how many friends she had. I didn't want to hide it… but after- but I couldn't help it. I had made friends before… but I thought I lost them forever. It's funny when you thought the feelings for someone were gone, until you see them again and they come back up…"
Paine stood up, and turned to face the door going back inside. "Rikku's not like that. She'd never forget someone… not in 1000 years."
She ran back inside, and Gippal sighed. She was right, he was hiding something. But now that all changed… Rikku, I was ready for you. But what now, eh? When will I ever see you again?
Zanarkand
"…Tidus has the ball… he shoots… and… he scores! Another amazing win for the Abes!"
Against every sad impulse inside of her, Rikku jumped out of her seat cheering happily. Inside of the sphere of water, the Abes were huddling around Tidus and patting him on the back. Travis was right there with him, and they were both smiling happily.
Hmmm, I see that the 'sphere of us' idea is keeping up out spirits! Rikku thought. That's tonight, isn't it? Ooo! I can't wait!
They all agreed on the idea of leaving a sphere for Yuna, but then needed to go buy one, and Tidus & Travis had a game the next afternoon, so they decided to make it after the game. They bought the sphere that morning, and now Rikku made her way past the crowd of crazed fans to get to the locker room where her friends were.
She got to the edge of the crowd of fans (mostly teenage girls) and was suddenly stopped by a guard.
"Sorry miss, no passing."
"But it's me! Tidus's friend… Rikku!" she said, a little angrily, and slightly pleading.
"Yeah right, that's what they all say."
"Hey ya' big meany! I'm not kidding, you know!"
"Tough luck, kid."
"Now you listen here…"
"Rikku? Where are you?" came Tidus's voice from behind the guard, which caused a wave of cheers from the crowd. Rikku waved her hand frantically.
"I'm here! Get me outta here! I think I'm going to get squashed!" she cried, and it was true. The fans were packing closer to the guards.
Tidus came running over.
"Rikku? There you are! You weren't in the locker room!"
"That's because this big lug…" she pointed at the guard, who seemed to stiffen, but didn't prevent Rikku from passing again. "… wouldn't let me through!"
"Oh, bwaa…. Sorry!" Tidus rubbed the back of his neck.
"Let's get out of here!"
"Right, Travis is waiting by the waterfront. Hold on tight!"
"Wha-…"
Tidus grabbed Rikku's hand, then started running through the crowd. The fans went wild, but both him and Rikku were gone before they could get there hands on either one of them. Some of the girls looked disgusted, other's mortified.
"What? He's got a girlfriend" … "No! He's supposed to be mine!" … "Come on, he isn't single anymore!"
What! Me and him dating, thought Rikku. That should be Yunie they're murmuring about, not me!
Tidus was too busy pushing his way through to hear the rumors, but Rikku heard just about every one of them. Humph, maybe the crowd of fans will finally die down…
Soon enough, they escaped all of the fans and made it to the shore front. They stopped in front of Travis, Tidus leaning on his knees panting and Rikku just falling to the ground in exhaustion.
"Remind me why I'm here?" Rikku asked jokingly. The only thing Travis could manage to do was laugh at the state both of his friends were in. When he stopped, he took three spheres from his pocket.
"So, who's first?"
Spira
Buddy entered the cabin containing Brother, Paine, Gippal and Yuna. They were all sitting at the bar and looked up at his arrival. Buddy rubbed the back of his neck and leaned on his right leg.
"Uh, sorry to bother you guys, but I just picked up some major sphere waves from the… the Zanarkand ruins. I think there's a lot of them… but I can't be sure." He said.
Yuna looked back down at her glass, and that's when Shinra entered the room.
"Sorry to interrupt this happy moment, but I have a theory…"
Yuna looked up quickly. "About fixing the machine!"
"No…"
She looked sad again.
"… but about the spheres at the ruins. They might have been left there from Rikku… or him…"
Everyone glanced at eachother, than at Yuna. She stood up abruptly.
"Than what the hell are we waiting for!"
Somewhat surprised by her language, they all got into positions for departure. Gippal was not about to leave, so Brother finally gave in and let him stay on the ship… though he wasn't too happy about it. Paine and Yuna went up to there beds to rest, incase fiends were involved. They doubted it highly though. Hope seemed to bounce off of the walls, and they all anxiously waited to land at the sphere site.
(I'm thinking about writing a story just like this, but with Paine going back in time instead of Rikku! But it's only a theory, and I probably won't do it. And I'm thinking about not having ANY match ups… slightly. People can like eachother, but I might not match up. But it's up to you guys… along with me, so review please like you have been!
