Chapter 9: Forward

A/n: It's a late update, I know and I have so many excuses but I know you don't want to hear them so I'll just welcome you into the chapter ... Welcome to chapter 9!

Ever have a really annoying song that you just cant get out of your head?

You'll just be doing something random like pouring yourself a glass of water or kissing your brothers best friend when it begins to play.

That was what was happening to me, except it wasn't a song ... it was a number.

The number in question was thirteen

No matter how hard I tried thirteen would not stop flashing through my mind.

Incase you don't know the significance of the number I'll tell you.

Today was the thirteenth, and today was the very first meeting between my parents and their divorce lawyers that resembled particularly fiesty sharks.

"Neeka, get dressed ... or better yet get out of bed" Mum pressed with a distressed look on her face.

I groaned and thrashed my head on my pillow before being warned by mum that if I wasn't out of bed in 10 seconds she would have Khan come and make me get up.

That worked a charm, once Khan tipped over my maitress and hurled icy cold water on me at eight o'clock in the morning.

"Tell me again why I have to come today" I whined, as the sunlight streaming through my window made my eyeballs throb.

"Getting custody issues out of the way, you and Khan have to be there ... your both too old for the judge to decide for you"

"Decide what" I asked curiously

"Who you'll be living with Neeks ... now get dressed" and then she walked out of the room.

A wave of indescribable anger raged through me, and I felt like I had to do something destructive to get rid of it, instead of tearing my room apart I said on my bed and forced myself to breathe.

"How could mum dump this on me with such short notice!" I thought angrily

I didn't want to choose who I was going to live with ... especially with dad and mum in the room, couldn't they understand how hard that was going to be?

How could they ... or more how could she ... and for once the anger was directed at mum, not dad.

"NEEKA ARE YOU READY YET" Mum yelled impatiently from the kitchen.

I contemplated throwing the shoe I was currently lacing up at her but I knew never to let my temper get too out of control.

Maybe Fshea was right, maybe I should of stuck with the meditation.

Through the entire airship ride to Luca I sulked, trying to stare a hole into the floor and not speaking to anybody.

Mum looked very angry, and every now and then she would mutter some profanity about dad.

Khan just stared blankly out the window, he said nothing.

I wonder if mother dearest had informed him of the decision we would be forced to make today.

I knew there had to be a reason I was dreading the thirteenth, I just knew it.

"I never knew a table could be so long and shiny" I thought numbly as I stared at the unatural glossy table

I was currently sitting in a conference room, at the very top floor of a very high building.

It was a nice day, but the sunshine was concealed by blinds, only letting a few strips of light reflect of the table in the dark room

My anger at mum still hadn't faded, so I glared at the table, wishing I could be anywhere but here.

Khan stared at the window, probably wishing he could jump out of it.

It was strange ... lately Khans anger had just mellowed out and this distant quiet boy had been replaced in his stead.

Mum impatiently drummed her fingers on the table.

The old Bevellian judge gritted her teeth as sweaty fingerprints defiled the table she obviously donated a lot of time into keeping clean.

Mr. Matherson, mums chosen lawyer sat calmly next to her, he looked particularly menacing with his long hooked nice and alert cautious eyes.

A knock on the door sent shivers down my spine and my father, and his representative entered the room.

The two lawyers shook hands, nodded and exchanged a few formalities with the judge ... and then it begun.

"Good afternoon all, I am Roberta Clare, district judge ... this court is now in session" Spoke the aged judge who resembled a dried up old prune.

"Representing the plaintiff will be ..." She added

"Mr. Dom Matherson of the Matherson and Starr Lucan Group and I will be representing Mrs. Rikku" Mr Matheron answered, standing up.

The judge nodded her head and signaled for him to sit down.

"Representing the defendant will be ..."

"Lionel Putz of the Georgio, Putz and Hurst Circle and I will be representing Mr. Gippal"

The judge nodded "I have read the Writ of Summons" and "Statement of Claim", Mrs. Rikku has a decent reason for divorce, infidelity is a serious crime ... representative of the Defendant please speak"

"My client amicably accepts the divorce proceedings, although he feels Mrs. Rikku's claim of "Extreme mind torture" is unjust and an extreme overreaction, he feels she is only saying this so she can

keep the house, who both Mr. Gippal and Mrs. Rikku legally own together"

Extreme mental torture? I thought, slight overreaction I agreed silently

"Mr. Putz, today we were only going to be focussing on custody issues" warned Judge Clare sternly

"Of course, or course" Mr. Putz replied sheepishly.

"My client is, of course, is willing for his two children Khan, aged seventeen, and Neeka aged fifteen to live with him ... my client currently resides in D'Jose Temple.

The judge nodded "Representative of the plaintiff please speak"

"My client, Mrs Rikku would prefer to have her children, who she feels she raised for the majority of the time, while Mr. Gippal was in D'Jose, should continue living with her"

The judge nodded her head

"Mr.Khan, please inform us of your decision" The judge asked kindly

"What?" Khan asked stupidly, tearing his gaze from the window.

"Please inform us of your decision regarding the issue on who you wish to live with" The judge answered impatiently.

"Oh ... I guess mum then" Khan said shrugging.

A slightly twisted smile grew across my mothers face and dad just kind of stared sadly at the table.

"Miss Neeka, please inform us of your decision"

I felt violently sick, this was uncalled for I cursed angrily ... it hit me like a tonne of bricks that I just wasn't ready for this.

"I uh ... I uh ..." I stuttered ... and then I vomited all over the judges table

See I wasn't lying when I said I felt violently sick?

The judge looked seriously displeased, as she gritted her teeth and stared at the sick on the table with disgust.

Mum and Dad both ran over to me ... dad hugged me while mum worriedly pressed her hands against my forehead.

For one magical second I forgot I was in a court session and I was warped back into the deserts with an awful fever, just like when I was a little girl.

"You okay sissy?" Khan asked, speaking for probably the first time today.

I shook my head ... I just wanted to get out of this awful room.

"We should post-pone this" Mum said quickly to dad

"Yeah your right" Dad agreed

Both lawyers, and judge looked outraged.

"Fine, ruling postponed ... court session closed" Judge Clare snarled.

Mr. Putz and Mr. Matherson, shook hands and exited the room after warning their respective clients to expect a call soon.

Dad rubbed the back of his head with his hand, he looked almost pleased as he apologized to Judge Clare.

Mum actually looked amused as she glanced at the vomit on the table, and also apologized to Judge Clare.

Then both mum and dad exited the room, awkwardly said goodbye and went there separate ways.

When we arrived home mum was being extra extra nice to both me and Khan.

It was like she was guilt ridden or something

A nice plus was that Jame came to see me today, he wanted to know how I was dealing with everything I guess

Khan seemed a little put out when he discovered Jame seemed to be mainly visiting me.

"Want to go for a walk?" Jame asked innocently while mum, Khan and I ate lunch.

Khan gaped for a second, then went back to his sandwiches while mum smiled secretly.

Khan still probably hadn't caught on ...

"Sure" I answered, patting down my hair.

We exited the house through the old fly wire door while Khan ignorantly munched on his sandwiches, and mum continued her all-knowing smile.

The first thing we did was kiss.

It's funny, it's never one of those gentle sweet kisses, it's always more of an instinct thing.

So we trekked through the sand for a bit till we collapsed in a heap.

"How was your parents ... meeting ... thingie" Jame asked awkwardly

"I threw up over the judges table and the meeting was postponed" I answered bluntly

Jame didn't seem to know what to say for a second ... until

"Eww ... I hope you washed your mouth" Jame joked, tickling my side.

I laughed for what was probably the first time that day.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes.

"So whats happening with uh ..." Jame started

"us?" I asked being quite forward, I blushed hoping that what he was getting at ... and not my parents divorce.

"How cute, we share brainwaves" laughed Jame

Immense relief flowed through me and the blush rising on my cheeks cooled.

"So wanna be my girlfriend" Jame asked, trying to sound casual, but failing miserably.

"Okay" I answered, in a high squeak.

Then we kissed again and begun laughing like crazy... again?

What exacly was it with us and laughing when some significant happened in our relationship.

Like girls will, I for a split second imagined our wedding day and laughing madly at the alter.

Then I mentally slapped myself for thinking that far ahead when Jame and I had only officially begun dating less then a minute ago.

Later that night I quietly slipped into the house.

Khan sat glued to the SphereVision set, watching the Al Bhed play Blitzball and shaking his fist angrily every now and then.

For a second he looked exacly like dad ... I could of sworn it was him.

Mum came into the lounge room and stood there nervously for a second.

She kept opening her mouth and shutting it.

"Something wrong?" I asked worriedly

"Ah not exactly ... ah ... do you kids mind if Mishaai comes over for dinner next week" Mum asked quickly

Yes I did mind I thought bitterly ... but instead I found myself quietly agreeing to it.

God knows why, I guess I just wanted to make mum happy.

Khan just shrugged and said "okay" and then went back to his Blitzball game.

A strange reaction coming from Khan I thought

I had expected him to throw the remote control at the wall ... but there he was just accepting and agreeing?

Mum seemed surprized, she just nodded and hastily walked out of the room.

By the end of the night I was still confused in whether the thirteenth was worth dreading.

So much had happened today.

Divorce proceedings had been interrupted ... and I still didn't know whether this was a good thing.

I had gained a boyfriend, that couldn't be too bad right?

I had actually felt sorry for dad, which was odd because he was the reason we were in the room in the first place.

I had felt raw anger at mum, but I still think she deserved it.

I had seen some different sides today, an inner sadness in dad and a sadistic cruel woman in mum.

My world had been blurred and shaken again.

The clarity was gone and that light at the end of the tunnel seemed to fade slightly.

A/n: Finished, the court session was probably a bit unrealistic. I swapped legal studies and school for Art so I wouldn't have a clue how it works, I'm just going by my own parents divorce and every single movie I had seen with a courtroom scene ... next chapter will be called "Opportunity" Please review also!

Review Replies:

FlyHigh4Life:

lol, yeah he needed to be punished for that ... your really liking the idea of castration aren't you ... so am I actually, lol

Jezzi:

Thanks, i'm still umming and ahhing about that chapter, I dunno something doesn't seem right about it.

Jen:

Yeah Gippal was a total jerk that day, thanks for the advice about my Ex, i've been doing exactly as you said, all i've been doing is hanging with my friends ... it helps!

PSPhreak: lol, glad you liked the kiss! and as for re-conciliation ... well ... i'm not saying, lol, through my parents divorce I learnt that life lesson so I thought why not add it in that little piece of wisdom. Thanks for reviewing ... your too kind! and especially thanks for adding the bit about the grammar, spelling and word choice because without people telling me I just don't realise, lol

Sweet Demon Slayer: It is a bit depressing isn't it, i'm trying to work to make it slightly happier though, thanks for reviewing!

Randomcat23: helps throw confetti yeah damn those replacements! lol, it's always a relief when people say they aren't disappointed.

Dale: yeah, I read Gippal/Rikku fics and they are good, but they have such a tough time getting together it seems odd that when they do everything would be perfect?

K-Jaye: Oh my god! your reminding me of me, lol, I got my first kiss of an asshole bastard, and thats exactly how I always describe him ... maybe we are talking about the same boy? lol, damn him. hugs

MadMaz: yay, you liked it! hehehehehe, I actually pretty much read your reviews over and over because each time they always bring such a large smile to my face. You said so many wonderful things to me last review I feel like I could so kick JK Rowlings ass! lol, joking, but seriously you make me feel like an exceptionally good author and I cant thank you enough for that ... whenever you review becomes my favorite day!

Rikku SWiRLS: Your review kind of confused me ... call me stupid but was that my first flame ... and my 50th review?

AntiMusicMan: yeah I aimed to make that chapter a whirlpool of feelings, I think I succeeded ... thanks for another lovely review!