Anyone who has reviewed, thanks for sticking with me and being so sweet and telling me such nice things about my characters and my writing and my flow. I've never had anyone say such nice, helpful stuff before.
I also want to say that I was never even thinking of any Rikku/Tidus, so no worries! (Despite what Gippal may think in this upcoming chapter) :) I love the idea of Tidus as a big brother to Rikku, and they're so sweet together in the game, with their protection of Yuna and all. . . And isn't Ryhcis just fabulous? I'm so glad he's well recieved. You guys make me feel so talented! Thanks again! Sorry about the long rambling, on with the chapter. It's a bit shorter this time.

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Chapter 6

"A Mister Meyn to see you, sir."

I looked up from the report I was holding in my hands, blinking to get the daze out of my eye.

"What?" I blinked again, trying to pretend I had actually been reading the report and not zoning out.

"There is a Mister Meyn to see you, sir." The Al Bhed messenger repeated. "Shall I send him in?"

"Um, no." I stood up hurriedly, banging into the table and shoving in backwards a few inches. "I'll see him outside. I need the air."

I strode past the messenger and out of my ëoffice', which was little more than a circular cave with loads of file cabinets and a big rectangular table surrounded by comfy leather chairs. I had set it up when I had first commandeered the Djose temple for my uses, and since then could have taken more, but I liked it how it was.

I emerged from the temple into the afternoon sunlight and took a deep breath, glad to be outside. I was still a desert boy at heart, and probably always would be. Finishing with my stretching, I looked around for this ëMister Meyn". I saw a unfamiliar looking guy standing a little ways away and wondered if that was him. He wasn't all that tall (shorter than me) with unruly blond hair and rather odd clothing. I started to approach him when a voice at my side said,

"Gippal? Sir?"

Turning, I found an elderly Al Bhed with silver streaked blond hair and watery eyes looking at me with an unreadable expression. I regarded him shrewdly.

"Mister Meyn, I presume?"

He bowed low. "It is an honor, sir. I've heard all about you, of course, but I didn't quite expect--"

"Expect what?" I asked, keeping my voice light and pleasant. This Meyn guy spoke in elegant, deliberate Al Bhed. I responded easily, but couldn't help notice how old fashioned his accent seemed to mine.

"Someone so young," Meyn said smoothly. "For you have accomplished a great deal in a small amount of time. It is most commendable." He made another bow, but I just looked at him.

"Thank you," I replied, but I was a bit wary now. For someone so dignified and distinguished to compliment me this much seemed a bit odd. I let the silence stretch until it was apparent Meyn was waiting for me to continue. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so, sir." Reaching down, Meyn pulled some papers from the bag at his side. "You see, I have this proposition."

We were interrupted by a high-pitched squeal that erupted through the air like the delighted cry of a bird. Looking around, I saw Rikku emerge from the temple, run forward, and throw herself into the arms of the strange looking blond guy I'd noticed before.

My eye narrowed as I watched him spin her around, remembering how I had thought Rikku had had some practice at kissing since we'd dated. Could this be some ex-boyfriend of hers? Or even worse, some type of friend with benefits?

I tore my gaze away from the sight of Rikku smiling happily and hugging that stupid guy again, and forced myself to turn back to Meyn.

"I'm listening."

"Well, sir, I am a part of an organization called Al Bhed Vun Spira, or Al Bhed For Spira," he smiled at me, showing cracked, yellowing teeth. He'd obvious ëbeen through the mill', as the saying goes. "We're all about the relationship between Spira and the Al Bhed, especially after the defeat of Sin."

I nodded to show I was still listening, but I continued to watch Rikku and that guy out of the corner of my eye, wishing this Meyn would just get to the damn point already.

"And we'd like your support in our cause." Meyn was looking at me expectantly now.

"Support?" I gave him my full attention, eye narrowing once more. "What kind of support? Machina? Gil? Because the Machina Faction doesn't do anything for free. Not for anyone, Al Bhed or not."

"Oh, I understand that sir." Meyn bowed again. I wished he would stop. "What we're asking for is a simple statement, possibly a public one, that you support our cause and agree with our methods."

I raised an eyebrow, looking at him skeptically. "I never even heard of you before, and now you want me to declare my support of you? Why?"

"We're trying to get as many Al Bhed behind our cause as we can," Meyn answered smoothly. "And as you are such an important one yourself, we thought it'd be a great step if you were seen supporting us--"

"But I've never even heard of you." I was now staring at the elderly Al Bhed in disbelief. What the hell was he thinking?

"I understand that, sir." He held the papers up again. "And I brought these for you to peruse at your leisure. They contain all the information you'll need to make your decision. We can wait as long as necessary for your answer. I hope it will be a favorable one." He bowed again and I resisted the urge to smack him as I took the papers.

"Yes, well." I was at a bit of a loss for words, and I hate being at a loss for words. "Thank you. I'll look these over, and get back to you soon." I glanced back towards the temple, having noted (without meaning to, of course) Rikku and her friend disappearing inside.

"Dryhg oui," Meyn said with yet another bow. Spira was I ready to kick him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said, then hastened towards the temple. I'd check on Rikku's team (what were they calling themselves? Duck-somethings) just to see how they we're getting along. I was the leader of the Faction after all, it was perfectly normal for me to check on my members. It had nothing to do with that blond guy.

I didn't quite make it to Rikku's room however, for as I entered the temple, Ryhcis excited, moving past me towards Meyn. Curious, I watched them shake hands, Ryhcis exclaiming warmly in Al Bhed,

"Eblen! What are you doing here?"

"Please," I heard Meyn answer, a smile on his face. "It's Mister Meyn. Show some respect to your elders."

"My apologies," Ryhcis made a mock-bow, also smiling. "But what are you doing here?"

"I was asking that young leader for support," Eblen Meyn replied.

"I see." Ryhcis was nodding, clearly knowing what Meyn was talking about. "And did he give it?"

"Not yet." Meyn shrugged. "But he probably will soon, especially once the reporters show up. How about you? I heard you've been spending some time with our leader's daughter. What is that about?"

Leader's daughter? Rikku? I ducked further into the shadows of the doorway, all attention focussed on Ryhcis and Meyn now.

"Oh well she's been working here," Ryhcis replied with a determinedly casual air, but I thought I saw the faintest of blushes on his cheeks. "And she's quite a fun little girl. Not at all what I might have expected."

A fun little girl? What did that mean? What Ryhcis and Rikku been doing together?

"And your assignment?" Meyn's voice had lowered an octave, suddenly sounding a lot less fatherly and a lot more deadly.

"I'm working on it." For once, Ryhcis sounded a bit ruffled. "Don't worry. It's all under control."

"Hmph." Meyn crossed his arms. "Just make sure it gets done, okay? And quietly."

"Of course." Ryhcis smiled, smooth and charming once more.

"Right, well I'd better be going." Meyn eyed Ryhcis with a stern air. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Sure." They shook hands again. "Take care, Mister Meyn." There was just a hint of scorn beneath the joking tone in his voice, but apparently Meyn didn't hear it, for he clapped Ryhcis on the back and strode towards the bridge.

Seeing the Ryhcis heading back towards the temple, I moved from my concealed spot and headed purposefully towards my room. I sat down at my table once more, but did not go back to my report. Instead, I turned my attention to the papers Meyn had given me, thinking over what I had just heard.

Was Ryhcis working for Meyn? And if so, what was he doing for him? What was his ëassignment'? Did it have something to do with Rikku?

I'll have to talk to her. I thought. Warn her.

About what? Another side of me cut in. You don't know anything for a fact. Just that Ryhcis may be working for someone else besides you, someone that may be the slippery Meyn who you'd like nothing better than to--

I still have to warn her. I argued with myself. Just to put her on her guard, at least. This whole ëAl Bhed Vun Spira' thing seems odd, and if Ryhcis is mixed up in it, and Rikku is mixed up with him. . .

For someone reason, that thought sent an odd, burning feeling through me and I was forced to push it to the back of my mind, or else risk going and pounding answers out of Ryhcis himself.

Settling back into my chair, I put Rikku firmly from my mind and began to read Meyn's papers.
---

I went to see Rikku the next morning. I had watched, once again hiding in the shadows of the doorway, her saying good-bye to her friend (who turned out to be Lady Yuna's boyfriend, but who I think had still spent the night in Rikku's room) and Shinra, who was leaving the blond guy.

Then, looking a little downhearted, Rikku began to head back to her room. I started to intercept her, when I was detained by a technician who was having some serious problems with signal misfires, causing his machina to do some very odd things.

By the time I had got that sorted out, Rikku had long since disappeared into her room. I approached it only to see Ryhcis ducking in ahead of me. Watching yet again from a door way, I leaned against the frame and kept my eye trained on Ryhcis' white blond head as he approached Rikku.

She was seated in the middle of the floor, legs crossed, holding a large piece of machina in her hands, wires and bolts and tools strewn across her lap.

"Hey." Ryhcis squatted down next to her. "You called?"

"Yeah!" For some reason, seeing Rikku's eyes light up and her face brighten with a smile as she looked up at Ryhcis made me want to stride over there and kick him until he fell over. "Shinra was working on this control mechanism for our machina, but now that he's gone I've had to pick up where he left off. The problem is--" Her nose wrinkled with frustration, and I found a small smile tugging on my lips at her cuteness. "I can't figure it out! Brother says he can install it once it's up and running, but I can't seem to get it to work. It keeps falling apart." She looked up at Ryhcis again. "I thought you might be able to help."

What? She had asked him for help, instead of me? Wasn't I the leader of this faction? What was she doing asking Ryhcis for help first? I mean, sure he worked with Hovers and all but I would have expected her to at least ask me. . .

Frowning at this unexpected blow to my ego, I watched Ryhcis take the machina from Rikku and turn it about in his slim, long fingered hands.

"I'll see what I can do," he said, looking up at her and smiling.

"Thanks!" Rikku returned his smile with a dazzling one of her own, then jumped up happily to help some of her mechanics angle a particularly odd shape of metal into it's place on a loudly hissing machina.

My frown deepened into a scowl. There'd be no talking to her now, not with Ryhcis in there. Didn't he have his own job to do? Perhaps he'd arranged it with his captain. I smirked, thinking I could easily fix that.

For the rest of the day, I kept myself busy running the Faction as I am actually supposed to do, being the leader and all. I didn't see either Ryhcis or Rikku again until dinner, which was incidentally when I decided my little talk couldn't wait.

Ryhcis had slid in next to Rikku, an arm draped casually over the back of her chair, and she was talking to him animatedly, throwing her long hair over her shoulder and displaying even white teeth as she smiled unendingly. Ryhcis was smiling as well, his eyes fixed on hers, neither seeming to pay much attention to the food.

That strange burning feeling welled up within me once more and I felt the irrepressible urge to throw something. Why was Ryhcis having this effect on me? And was it Ryhcis. . . or Rikku?

Seeing Rikku getting up (Ryhcis standing up immediately when she did, obviously playing the chivalry card that damn oaf) I hastened to do the same, catching her just outside the mess hall.

"Rikku," I said, hurrying up to her. She turned to regard me, and I was hit by the sudden luminance of those big green eyes. "I need to talk to you."

I was looking at her and at her only, as if Ryhcis wasn't even there. He seemed to get the hint and touched her lightly on the arm.

"I'll go get started on the wiring," he said softly.

"Okay." Rikku flashed him one of those brilliant smiles, then turned to me. "What is it?"

"It's. . .um. . ." Now that I had her here, all her attention focussed on me, I wasn't sure exactly what to say. "It's about Ryhcis."

"What about him?" She sounded slightly curious, and slightly wary, as if she knew what I was about to say wasn't going to be very cheerful.

I sighed and took hold of her arm, pulling out of the main section of the hall and pretending I couldn't feel the warmth of her flesh under mine. Once I'd gotten her into a more secluded place (just so we wouldn't be overheard) I told her all about Eblen Meyn and his and Ryhcis' conversation. Once I had finished I waited for her to say something, but she merely looked at me.

"Okay," she said at last.

"Okay?" I echoed. "That's it?"

"Yes. What else do you want me to say?" Something in her tone had changed towards me. She was talking to me like I was. . . Brother or somebody.

"Well, I--"

"Do you want me to say I'll never speak to him again, or that I'll report him to my dad?"

"No, I--" She was still looking at me rather blandly, green eyes blinking slowly. My own eye narrowed in sudden anger, but whether it was anger at her or at myself, I couldn't tell. "I just want you to be careful."

Rikku snorted, and looked away, but didn't say anything for a few moments. At last, she looked up at me once more, the expression in her eyes unreadable.

"I'll be careful, Gippal." The way she said my name made me shiver slightly. Her voice was light, yet flat. "Even though I don't think it's your place to tell me to be so."

And then she was moving past me, walking off down the hallway towards her room, her long mane of hair swinging behind her.

I stared after her until she disappeared, my thoughts swirling in a confused, jumbled whirlpool of emotions. I was furious, furious with Rikku for reacting so calmly to my news and treating me so neutrally. I was also hurt, for the same reasons. And on top of that, I was angry at myself for feeling angry and hurt, trying to tell myself yet again, that I didn't care for Rikku. At least not in that way. However, this time I wasn't so easily fooled.
---

I sighed and stretched, raising my arms over my head and arching my back, reveling in the soft sunlight and smiling simply because I could.

It hadn't been an easy morning, so when Ryhcis came to me at lunch and asked if I'd like to take our food for a brief picnic in the secluded glade where I had been swimming the other day, I was more than happy to oblige.

We were seated very close to each other now, on the thick carpet of lush green grass, hands nearly touching as we sat in companionable silence, drinking in the beauty of the leaves and tress and sunshine. There was only one thing that was stopping me from utter contentment, and that was Gippal.

I kept hearing his words in my mind, his warnings against Ryhcis, his suspicious about him and Meyn, and, above all, his request that I be careful. I didn't consider it right for him to be telling me to be careful, and I told him so.

After all, hadn't he given up most of his ëI'm-concerned-about-you' rights when he so callously brushed me off after our kiss? He had made it perfectly clear I was no more than a little kid to him, so he had no right now to start acting as if I was. . . more.

I sighed again, but this time it wasn't our of happiness. It was out of annoyance, wishing Gippal would get the hell out of my head and leave me to enjoy the afternoon and the sunshine and--

"Ryhcis," I said before I could stop myself. Gippal's doubts had gotten to me more than I let on. After all, what did I really know about this Al Bhed? It couldn't hurt to ask. . . "Who was that man you were talking to outside the temple the other day?"

"Who?" Ryhcis looked at me inquiringly, reaching forward absently to brush a piece of hair off my shoulder. His touch made me shiver.

"That older guy, Meyn, or something. . ." Since he had done it for me, I was forced to reach out and brush his pale blond hair away from his face, letting me see the full intensity of those eyes, which were currently fixed directly on my own.

"Oh, he's just an old friend." Ryhcis' hand had remained in my hair, stroking the golden strands, away from my face, down my back. . . I found myself shivering again.

"Oh." I didn't know how to further press him without seeming like I was prying. I let my hand drop to the grass between us once more, but his hand simply slid from hair to the back of my neck, cupping it gently.

"You belong in the sunshine, you know," Ryhcis said softly. His hand tightened ever so slightly on my neck and he drew me nearer.

"I'm a desert girl," I said, my voice equally soft. "Through and through. I love the sun."

"Mmmm." He was still drawing me near, and I found I wasn't resisting in the slightest. My eyes seemed to be glued to his, but I was conscious of his lips, long and lean and soft looking, just inches from my own. "It suits you."

I smiled at him and he smiled back, then closed the distance between us and kissed me.

He was soft, gentle, and undemanding. I felt his other arm move, and tensed, in case he put his hand somewhere I didn't want it, but he merely settled it at my waist, pulling me slightly closer.

I relaxed, discovering that my arms had wound themselves around his neck, and one of my hands had tangled in his hair. He continued to kiss me, so soft and sweet, and I kissed him back.

Eventually, we broke the kiss, but didn't break our embrace. I smiled up at Ryhcis once again, and he smiled back at me. I brought one of my hands (the one not twisting his soft blond locks around my fingers) up to gently trace his jaw line, marveling at the softness of his tan skin. My thoughts were wheeling wildly, but it was in a pleasant way. I couldn't think of anything really to say, except,

"The sunshine suits you, too."

Ryhcis smiled, then leaned forward to kiss me again.

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A/N: I had a little trouble with this chapter, and I'm still not sure if it's quite. . . right. I mean, the whole Meyn thing. . . well I just had a little trouble with it, that's all. I wasn't sure exactly how to end it, after the kiss, either. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming please!