Day Four
Day Four
Rikku woke up to her buzzer and quickly smacked it off. She eagerly got out of bed and crept out of her tent, heading towards Gippal's small cluster of tents. Rikku could tell which one was Gippal's because it was the only one that wasn't tan. Instead, it was pink and purple. Rikku rolled her eyes. This was so typical of him, it wasn't even funny. She quietly unzipped it and looked inside. She eventually saw his figure, his shoulders gently rising and falling. There was virtually nothing in his tent except for a clock and a small stack of papers. She grinned and closed the flap slowly behind her. She approached his sleeping form slowly, staring at him in the small light available to her eyes, even though they were already used to the dark. She watched his face. He really hadn't changed much in the past three years. Or since he was ten. He still had an odd boyish charm about him that made you think the moment you saw him was one of the popular guys, but the reason for him being popular was unexplainable. Rikku still was proud that her hair was a deeper, more golden blonde than his. His was closer to platinum. But she could never understand how he wore all the odd clothing he did and not look like he escaped from the circus in it. It was a talent. She got into position, and then pounced, landing across him. He tried spastically to sit up with no result since Rikku was sprawled across him.
"What the hell?!" he yelled.
"Wake up Gippal! I'm boooooored," she mimicked.
"Cid's Girl?" he said, rubbing his eye. She pursed her lips.
"My name is Rikku! Get it right, you…you, you, you big meanie!" she said. Gippal laughed groggily.
"Still not a major in the comeback department," he said. She sneered.
"You'll get what's coming to you," she said.
"How 'bout a cup of caffeine?"
"Fresh out. Sorry."
"Man, service sucks here, Kid. I should just go outside and get shocked. That'll wake anyone up," he said. Rikku shivered. The thought of it made her spine lock up and her heart beat quickly. They sat in silence for a few seconds, Gippal rubbing his eyes and groaning a few times. Then, he rolled over onto his side. "Well, night then," he said.
"What? You can't go to sleep! I just woke you up! Come on, wake up, please?" Rikku begged, pushing on his shoulder. He sighed and sat up again roughly.
"Jeez, I wake you up one time and now you're getting revengeon me," he said. Rikku somehow only just noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. She handed the gray thermal shirt to him, and he tugged it over his head. His hair popped out of the neckline comically.
"Revenge is best served cold," she said with a grin.
They went outside into the rain and took a long walk down to the Travel Agency. Rikku stared at it with longing. Gippal turned to her, and watched her eyes shining from the lights in the Agency for a few moments. Gippal and she both knew that she couldn't go in there.
"I'll only be a few minutes. You want me to get you something?" he asked. Rikku sniffled against the rain.
"A chocolate bar would mean the world to me right now," she suggested, smiling weakly at him. He nodded with a smile and went into the shop. Rikku watched the door for as long as she could to avoid looking at the Plains behind her. She had nothing else to think about now. These 'few minutes' he spoke of would be an eternity out here by herself. She clutched her elbows and trembled. She finally forced herself to turn around and stare at the vast expanse before her. She tried to count the towers. One. Two. Four. Wait… what?
She sighed raggedly and tried to think of something else, since she obviously didn't have the mental ability to count towers at the moment. The adrenaline of being out in the middle of the Thunder Plains was taking over all of her other functions. She thought of the Moonflow. Besides the desert, the Moonflow was Rikku's favorite place in Spira. Once, she had gone with Yuna to see the river light up from the pyreflies. It had been the first time she realized that the Al Bhed were not welcome in Spira. They had all watched her like she was a wild animal's baby. You want to believeit's cute, but then you remember what it will grow into. For the longest time, she had been ashamed of her eyes. Her eyes were what gave it all away. And she couldn't stand them. If she ever went out with Yuna, she kept her eyes downcast, and she had a second wardrobe of clothes from normal shops in Spira. And then, a group of Al Bhed were murdered in Macalania forest when Rikku was nine. She couldn't believe what had happened. And from then on, she had been proud to be Al Bhed. She believed that just because they didn't follow Yevons teachings didn't make them bad people. They were just trying to change the world their way. Was that terrible?
Thinking of this slightly comforted Rikku. The religious barrier had been broken between Spira and the Al Bhed. She could talk to people and not have them ignore her. Most people in Spira hadn't talked to Al Bhed only because it was frowned upon by some of the more hard core Yevonites. But there was still an uneasy feeling between them all. Rikku wanted to do something to change the world again.
Just as she started brainstorming ideas of how to go about doing this all by herself, Gippal exited the Agency and handed Rikku a chocolate bar.
"Oooou, I love you!" she cried. She ripped open the chocolate bar and started wolfing it down. Gippal was silent next to her. She looked at him quickly and saw a smile plastered on his face. She realized what she said was a little odd, having only been his friendish hater for two days, and quickly thought of what to say. "Kidding! I kid sometimes. You know, I think I'm kind of… funny…," she said.
"You're hilarious," Gippal stated. She nodded in a 'that's that' sort of way and stuffed half the chocolate bar into her mouth, savoring the taste. Rikku never understood the truth behind the saying, 'diamonds are a girl's best friend'. Personally, she thought that chocolate was a pretty damn good friend. You can take guilty pleasure in it, and it will never tell a soul.
Suddenly, thunder crashed louder than ever. She almost dropped her chocolate bar as her fists went under her chin in a self secure way of protecting herself. She knew it would never work, but it made her believe she was okay. The thunder kept rolling on and on, for what seemed like forever. She whimpered softly enough so that Gippal couldn't hear her. She didn't want him to know how afraid she was, even if he already did. If he already knew, then she could still pretend he didn't.
They got back to the camps and Rikku nearly leaped into Gippal's tent, falling on his bed and covering herself with his blanket. Gippal entered in a much more graceful manner and looked at her in his bed. He raised one eyebrow and grinned at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"You've got a fleece blanket. I've got that swishy nylonish stuff. There's a big difference. I like yourblanket better," she said. He shrugged and sat down next to the bed, sipping his hot coffee. Rikku wrinkled her nose. "How can you drink that stuff? It's so bitter and… yurgh," she finished. He grinned.
"One day, you shall see the glory of coffee, child," he said. She 'humphed' at him.
"I'm not a child," she mumbled, wrapping herself in the blanket. He chuckled, and then sipped it again.
"So, Cid's Girl-."
"Rikku!"
"Yeah, whatever. You got a boyfriend?" he asked. Rikku sat up straight and tried to look alluring as possible.
"Why? Thinking of looking me up next time you're in Luca?" she asked. She was kidding, but it sounded like that was what he was thinking.
"No. I'm just curious," he said, arranging a pile of stones he had scooped up from the ground outside. Rikku slouched again and shrugged.
"Sort of," she said.
"Sort of?" he repeated.
"Yeah. He kissed me before the team left. I don't know what it means for us. But there had been nothing between us before that," she said. She thought about how melodramatic she sounded, and was embarrassed by her matters of the heart. "Anyway, why's it your business anyway?" she asked, turning away from him.
"It's not. I just thought maybe I'd try to make some conversationwith you. It's huge out in Bevelle, you should try it with someone you don't hate," he said, tumbling down his pebble palace.
"I have plenty of conversations!"
"Yeah, but then you never shut up," he said, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his palm.
"Fine! Then I won't talk," she said.
"Works fine for me," he said, restarting his rock castle. Rikku watched him for a moment.
"You know, you're really annoying," she said. "I can't figure out why anyonelikes you." With a swipe of his hand, Gippal's rocks were out of order again. Rikku rolled her eyes. Boys. They could be so dramatic sometimes. Even worse than girls.
"I thought you weren't talking!" Gippal said. Rikku shrugged.
"I changed my mind." Gippal threw up his arms in exasperation. They sat in silence for a few more moments, Rikku watching Gippal's construction. He finally finished and glanced around the tent. He finally picked up a twig and placed it in the center of the structure, making a flag. Rikku grinned, but then a large crack came from the sky. She saw the flash outside, and it illuminated everything going from all white to color. She felt like she was in a horror film. She gasped and covered her head with the blanket. She shivered under it for a few seconds, and then felt the blanket slowly being pulled away from her. Then, she felt something strange. Familiar, but different. It scared her.
Gippal was kissing her. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't want to make anything of it. It was too weird. Her lips were just sitting there, unresponsive. She stared blankly at his one closed eye. He finally pulled away from her, and she could only stare at him. Then, she screeched and slapped him across the face.
"Jeez, I was only trying to help!" he said, still nursing the red stop on his face.
"How could you have been helping me by… doing… that?" Rikku asked awkwardly, huddled up in a corner with the blanket wrapped around her protectively.
"You told me that you didn't notice the thunder when you were thinking about other things. Now you have a small distraction. But before you fall toohead over heels, that was strictly business," he said. Rikku threw one of the stray pebbles on the ground at him.
"How can you be so arrogant?" she asked. He easily avoided the pebble. It had distracted her. But she never wanted to be distracted like that again. Ever. It may have been one of the worst experiences of her life. He laughed.
"Pretend I'm that guy you like," he said.
"Nere," she corrected, watching Gippal's pebble palace.
"Wait… you like Nere?" Gippal asked. Rikku slapped her forehead with her palm. Of courseGippal knew Nere. That's just how lucky Rikku was, right?
"Yes," she said softly. Gippal sighed and shook his head.
"They all fall for him. Every single one," he said.
"Huh?"
"Nere's a total player. Just like me," he said with a proud grin. Rikku scoffed.
"Nere is not a player. He's actually human, unlike you. He cares about how other peoplefeel," she said, turning a bit away from Gippal.
"Believe what you want. The played never believe they're being… played," he ended weakly, falling onto his back and putting his hands behind his head.
"I know when I'm being played," Rikku countered, staring at the ceiling. "I know that you've been playing me the past few days," she added, glancing slyly at him. "But I'm not buying it for one second, kid," she ended. Gippal scoffed this time.
"Because I wantto play Cid's girl," Gippal said sarcastically.
"Ahah! You're getting defensive! You liiikeme," she said. She sounded like she was five again. Gippal flipped over and rested on his elbows, regarding her with a bland look.
"What if I said I do?" he asked, a grin on his face.
"Then I wouldn't believe you," Rikku said, shrugging sweetly. "It takes more than three days to start liking someone."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," Rikku said, trying to end the conversation. "He's nota player." Gippal shook his head and turned back onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He suddenly groaned angrily. "What?" Rikku asked.
"I have to go back out there in an hour," he mumbled. "That's not enough time for me to wake up…," he continued. Rikku shook her head.
"Well I have to go out there sometime… find whatever courage I have," Rikku said.
"Oh, you have plenty of courage. Stop fishing for compliments," Gippal said lazily.
"I'm not. I'm not fishing for compliments, and I'm not brave either. Desperation made me come out here. I want back on that team, and I'm gonna get over this fear to get there."
"Then that's all you need."
"What?"
"All you need is something driving you towards your goal. Then, you'll do just fine." Rikku smiled at him. All she needed was something driving her. And maybe someone to help her through it all.
Yay, I got reviews! Thank you so so much, I love you guys! It makes me happy, haha! Anyway, I will be trying to update more. I just sorta stopped after a while. And now I'm starting again! D