Chapter 8

When I woke up, it was dark.

This was a bit confusing, as the last thing I remembered was a rather bright light, a lot of heat, and a pain in my head. Now, it was dark, I was pleasantly warm, and my head-- well, my head still ached.

I stirred uncomfortably, trying to figure out why it was dark, and realized I was in my room, in my bed. And there was someone sitting in a chair next to me, holding my hand.

"Gippal?" I recognized the dark shape then, picking out the broad shoulders and spiky hair. He jerked at the sound of my voice, glancing around a bit wildly as though he wasn't sure exactly where he was.

"Hey," he said softly after a moment, and the grip on my hand tightened. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I replied, a little confused. I wasn't really fine, but I didn't know why I shouldn't be and I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Why is it all dark?"

"It's nighttime," Gippal replied, putting his other hand on mine as well. "Are you sure you're okay? How's your head?"

"It hurts a little," I said with a shrug, struggling to sit up. Gippal hurried to help me, propping my pillow up against the wall so I could lean against it. There was another slumped figure at the end of the bed. It was snoring.

"Brother," Gippal explained, seeing my gaze. "He wanted to make sure you were okay. You are okay, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I was a little bemused by Gippal's concern, and I was still having trouble focussing with the pain and pressure in my head.

"Maybe you should have another potion and let me look at your head." Gippal made to stand up, reaching for the light. "You were bleeding a hell of a lot after that explosion, Cid's Girl."

"Don't!" I reached forward to grasp his arm and wrench it away from the light. The pressure in my head was making me disoriented and confused, but I knew for a fact I did not want him to turn on the light. My head hurt enough as it was. "Gippal. . . the explosion-- is anyone hurt?"

"You," Gippal said, an odd tone to his voice. My fingers dug into his arm urgently, not willing to share in his dark humor at the moment. "And a few mechanics. But nothing serious."

I breathed a sigh of relief, releasing his arm and falling back against my pillow. I shot up a moment later however, as a new thought occurred to me.

"The machina!" I gasped, grabbing Gippal once more. "Was it all ruined?"

"No," Gippal faltered slightly, and it seemed his eye didn't quite meet mine. "Not all of it."

"But some?" Despite myself, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. When I worked on machina, I put my heart and soul into it, and encouraged the people around me to do the same. For the Tilgmehks, our machina was like our children. To find out that some of it had been destroyed through a stupid mistake of my making. . .

"Some, yes," Gippal conceded, and his eye definitely didn't meet mine this time. "After all, it was an explosion, Rikku."

"What caused it?" My voice was a little choked as I was still fighting back tears. "The mechanism, right? Because I installed it wrong."

"I think it was just a malfunction--" Gippal began, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yeah," I sniffed, then, before I could stop myself, burst into tears.

I pressed my hands to my mouth, trying to muffle the noise, ashamed and embarrassed and waiting for Gippal to laugh or make some snide comment. Instead, I heard the gentle rustle of his clothing and felt the mattress sink a little as he sat on the bed. Then he put his arms around me and drew me gently to his chest, murmuring soothingly in my ear.

I clung to him, burying my face in the slightly scratchy fabric of his shirt, trying to stifle my sobs. He smelled like soap and sand and machina oil-- familiar smells that I inhaled deeply, letting them and Gippal's gentle hands and soft words calm me until I was able to pull away and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.

"I'm sorry," I said thickly, sniffing again. I wasn't even really sure why I had been crying, or why I had let Gippal comfort me. I was still just so confused and my head hurt and his arms around me had felt so good. . .

"It's okay," Gippal muttered. "It's understandable that you're upset. Are you okay now?"

"Yes," I mumbled, rather mortified. "Can I. . . will you take me to the room? I want to see the damage for myself."

"Not tonight," Gippal said, a hand still rubbing my back comfortingly. I had never known him to be this gentle. And hadn't we been shouting at each other not too long ago?

"But--"

"Not tonight," Gippal repeated firmly. "I think you should go back to sleep."

He released me, and I fell back against the pillow, keenly aware of the loss of his warmth. He was tucking my blanket around me and my eyes were closing when I remembered something else.

"Ryhcis," I mumbled, forcing my eyes back open. I felt Gippal tense, and he became almost alarmingly still.

"What about him?"

"Has he. . . has he been in to see me?" I didn't want to sound whiny and childish (which, of course, I did) but I was a little hurt at the thought of Ryhcis not bothering to see if I was all right. I mean, he was sort of my boyfriend, wasn't he?

"Oh, yeah he came by a little while ago," Gippal said in an oddly blank voice. "But you were sleeping still."

"Oh." I slumped back against the pillow and was almost asleep again before yet another thought occurred to me. I half sat up. "Gippal. . ."

"What, Rikku?" He sounded only a little exasperated.

"Are you going to stay there?"

He paused for a moment, then said in a voice that was very deep and soft, "I'll stay if you want me to."

"Right there?" I asked, trying to pretend his words and the tone in which he'd said them hadn't sent a shiver through me.

"Well, yes, I--" He broke off as I reached out and smacked him across the head. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You can't sleep in that!" It was my turn to be exasperated. It was a wooden chair for Spira's sake!

"I'm fine," Gippal began to protest in typical oh-I'm-Gippal-and-I'm-stubborn-as-all-hell-and-don't-listen-to-anyone fashion.

"Gippal," I made my voice as stern and intimidating as possible, just like Pop when he's giving me one of his 'for-you-own-good' lectures. "You can not sleep in a chair. If you're going to stay here, you will either kick Brother out of his chair and make a bed for yourself, or you will sleep on this one with me."

"What?" His expression was one of profound shock, his eye wide and fixed on me disbelievingly.

I erupted into a fit of giggles. "Please," I said, once I could speak. "Do really think that with my head feeling like I went on a massive Tajycdydeuh drinking binge," Tajycdydeuh, or Devastation, was an extremely potent Al Bhed liqueur, "and my brother is in the room, that I would ask you to have sex with me?"

I giggled still harder as Gippal flushed. Normally I wouldn't have expected him to get embarrassed over something like that, but he probably had hadn't expected me to say it. "But you can sleep with me."

I scooted over against the wall, indicating that Gippal could lay down next to me. He hesitated.

"But, Rikku, your brother--"

"He won't wake until morning. He's the heaviest sleeper in Spira."

"But--"

"I am not letting you sleep in that chair Gippal," I said sternly. "So either you lay down on this bed or I flying tackle you onto the floor."

He chuckled somewhat ruefully, shaking his head, but conceded, lying down (on top of the covers) next to me.

I shut my eyes and snuggled down comfortably, enjoying the warmth I could feel radiating from his body. We weren't quite touching, but we were very close. I felt safe and secure and drowsy. I was almost asleep for what felt like the billionth time when Gippal spoke.

"What about your boyfriend?"

The flat scorn in the words jerked me awake.

"Won't he mind?" Gippal continued, still soft but still sneering. "What if he were to walk in here right now and see us?"

"It's strictly platonic," I managed to say at last. My voice sounded weak and whiny. To my horror I felt tears pricking in my eyes once more. "I just didn't want you in that chair. . ." Our conversation of earlier kept coming back to me in waves. He'd been jealous. . . he had no right to be jealous. . . my head hurt and I was confused. . . "If you want to leave I don't care."

"I don't want to leave." Gippal's voice had dropped into a soft murmur once more. "I'll stay. Just go to sleep."

He put his hand on my back, rubbing it gently again, his touch making me forget the hurt and tumult within my head, helping me relax. I scooted closer and closed my eyes again, slipping into sleep. And this time, no one interrupted.
---

The next time I woke up, Gippal was untangling me from his arms, kissing me lightly on the forehead and slipping out the door. Brother was stirring grouchily in his chair, my head was throbbing and I was only slightly less confused.

I pushed myself to a sitting position, then threw back the covers dramatically, determined to step on the floor and stand upright without getting dizzy or falling over. Hearing a muffled curse, I turned to see Brother struggling to throw off my quilt. I giggled a little at the funny sight, then stopped as our eyes met. I looked at him, he looked at me. I blinked, and he threw himself from his chair.

"Rikku!" He shrieked, practically bowling me over as he leapt towards the bed and enveloped me in a crushing bear hug. Utterly surprised, I didn't offer ay form of resistance at first while he babbled in rapid Al Bhed. "Rikku, I'm so sorry, I should have installed the mechanism myself, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, all that blood. . . Are you sure you're okay? Oh, Rikku, it's all my fault--"

"You're suffocating me!" I managed to gasp, pushing at his shoulders. He pulled back, but not very far, scanning my face.

"How are you feeling?" he demanded. "Do you need another potion? Should we call for a doctor?"

"I'm fine," I said, still attempting to push him away. "And it's not your fault. For Spira's sake, Brother, let me go!"

He did finally and I took a deep breath, pushing back my tangled hair. Brother looked at me oddly for a moment before scanning the room. "Where is Gippal?"

"I don't know." That was the truth, and Brother didn't need to know any more than that. I resisted the urge to bite my lip as my thoughts began swirling, but I didn't want Brother to see what confusion Gippal's name had stirred in me.

I put my feet on the cold stone of the floor and attempted to stand up. I was hit at once with a wave of dizziness and my legs became oddly uncooperative, buckling beneath me.

Brother caught me and I sagged against him, nearly knocking him over with my dead weight. He started swearing in Al Bhed again as I fought to stand. Eventually I managed it and Brother cautiously let me go.

"Okay," I said happily, looking down at my legs and hoping they'd be a little more obedient now. "I'm going to go shower." I was after all, in the same clothes I'd been wearing yesterday. I took a single step towards the bathroom, then fell in an undignified heap on the floor.

After a few more tries and a lot of help from Brother, I got all the way to the door. I then shooed my brother away, telling him I could manage a shower without him, and even if I couldn't having his help while I tried would be a bit awkward.

After about thirty minutes, a fair amount of cursing, loads of dizziness and one moment when I thought I was going to hurl, I finished with my shower, brushed my hair (leaving it down to cover the disgusting bruise-slash-cut on my head) and accepted the clothes Brother handed me through the door. Marveling a little at how he had managed to choose a comfortable yet cute outfit, I dressed rather haphazardly then practically fell out of the bathroom, demanding that Brother help me get to the mess hall.

I was forced to lean on him as we walked, because I was still rather dizzy, my head felt heavy and I was very weak. I attributed this to simple lack of food and could not have been happier when we entered the mess hall and the smell of sausages met our noses.

Before I could eat, however, I found myself in the middle of a knot of people, all trying to hug me and ask me if I was all right. The Tilgmehks, who had been waiting for me to arrive. Of course, I had to hug them all back and exclaim over their cuts or bruises and assure them that yes, of course I was all right.

Just as we seemed to be moving towards the direction of the table, a figure cut it's way through the teeming mass surrounding me. It was Ryhcis, looking tall and blond and tan, wearing an enormous smile of utter relief. He scooped me up into his arms and held on to me tightly, muttering breathily and incoherently in my ear. I giggled delightedly, and hugged him back.

When he finally set me down, favoring me with another beautiful smile, I was feeling dizzy and muddled once more, but I wasn't sure if it was from the wound on my head, or the memories of Gippal's arms around me in much the same way only hours before.

"I'm so glad to see you're all right," Ryhcis breathed, his voice barely more than a whisper. Relief and happiness and an odd emotion I couldn't figure out had softened the intensity of his gaze. "I was so worried."

He hugged me again, and I patted his back, sensing that he needed comfort for something I couldn't quite figure out. However, I was the one to pull away this time, giving him a light kiss on the cheek before heading towards the buffet where I could see golden brown pancakes stacked on crisp white plates near bottles of darkly rich syrup.

I was hit by another wave of dizziness and I would have promptly toppled over had it not been for the clamoring group of Tilgmehks that still surrounded me. At once, five different pairs of arms were supporting me, practically carrying me towards the buffet so I could load my plate with food, then escorting me back to the table where they all crowded around me while I devoured it.

There was a lot of talking and laughter and typical light heated Tilgmehk-ness, until I had finished my breakfast, looked up, and asked about our room. Then the jokes faltered, the smiles faded and the faces grew grave. No one would meet my eye.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked quietly, feeling my own happiness being syphoned away by this uncommonly grim reaction. I squared my jaw. "I wanna see it."

"Perhaps you should wait until you're stronger--" One mechanic started.

"It doesn't make sense for you to go to work today--"

"You should be resting--"

"We can handle it ourselves--"

But I had pushed away my plate and stood up, grasping wildly for the nearest person to support me. It happened to be Buddy, and I dug my fingers into his arm.

"Take me to the room," I ordered, leaning heavily on him and glaring into the goggles he almost always wore.

"Rikku. . ." Dammit, Buddy would just try and reason with me. He was always being all. . . reasonable.

Ryhcis was on my other side. I whirled around and seized him instead. "Take me to the room," I begged.

He looked pained. "I can't, Rikku. I have to get to work." He bent down and wrapped an arm around my waist, bending low to whisper in my ear. "I'll come and see you later. Please. . . stay safe."

The he had kissed me on the forehead (just like Gippal) and walked out of the cafeteria. Now who I could turn to? Someone as desperate and unreasonable as me. I practically fell across the table to grasp at Brother's shirt.

"Take me to the room," I said for the third time, and he complied. After all, he'd spent the whole night in my room, and while he'd been there after the explosion, I don't think he had much time to asses the damage.

It was awful.

I nearly fell over again when we entered the room, but not from any dizziness. The machina I had been working on was a machina no longer, but a twisted hunk of metal, melted into a shapeless mass of jumbled wiring and mutated screws. I felt tears spring to my eyes again at the sight. Damn this head wound, it was making me all weepy.

"Tysh," Brother swore softly, releasing me and moving forward. "I didn't realize it was this bad. . ."

Oh, it was bad all right. Really bad. If the explosion had done this to our machina, how had I managed to survive? I began to shake uncontrollably, realizing how lucky I had been. My knees were becoming rebellious again, threatening to buckle without my consent, when one of the Tilgmehks, who had followed me and Brother, went,

"What is that noise?"

We all froze, listening, and then I heard it too. The distinctive babble of voices, but many voices that all seemed to be shouting. It was coming from the front of the temple.

Everyone began moving in that direction. I attempted to follow, stumbling after them. Derrick, the nice mechanic I spoken to before the explosion, offered me his arm. I leaned on it gratefully as the group surged to the temple's front entrance.

There was already quite a crowd in the doorway. We pushed ourselves through and stepped outside. There was an even larger crowd out there, and these were the people that were shouting. I looked around to see what they were shouting at, and was shocked to find it was Gippal.

Why in Spira were all these people holding out microphones and clutching spheres and shouting at Gippal? My eyes narrowed as they focussed on a small figure in front. Shelinda. These people were all reporters.

"Gippal!" One of them was shouting. "What's your involvement with the organization called 'Al Bhed Vun Spira'?"

"I don't have an involve--" Gippal began before another reporter interrupted.

"I heard there was an explosion. What can you tell us about it?"

"Was it an act of retaliation by Yevonites?"

"Retaliation?" Gippal asked, confused. "For what?"

"Are you aware of the explosion that took place this morning at Bevelle?" A reporter practically launched himself at Gippal, holding up a sphere. "Do you think it's connected to the explosion that happened here yesterday?"

"I heard the leader's daughter, Rikku, was killed yesterday," another added.

"Is that true?" one shouted, thrusting a mike at Gippal.

"It most certainly is not!" I shouted, unable to help myself. The effect of those simple words was stunning.

Immediately, all the reporters turned away from Gippal and converged on me instead. Suddenly, I found myself bombarded with question, microphones and spheres being shoved in my face.

"Lady Rikku, what caused the explosion?"

"Are you working for Gippal now instead of your father?"

"Did you run away from Home?"

"What do you think of the attack in Bevelle?"

"Do you have any connection with 'Al Bhed Vun Spira'?"

I staggered at the suddenness of it all, the light beaming from the spheres half-blinding me and making my eyes water. The question were fired at me so rapidly that there was no way I could answer even one, let alone them all.

I backed up until I hit the uneven wall of the temple, rather frightened and unsure what to do. The reporters simply came with me, tripping over one another in their haste to be the closest to me, to shout their questions the loudest. I wanted to scream and felt like I was going to faint. I was trapped, and they were surging forward.

Help came then, in the form of the Tilgmehks. They converged upon the reporters just as the reporters had converged on me, forming a solid wall of their own, allowing me to slip away behind them.

My heart nearly bursting with gratitude, I darted in through the temple door, intent on putting as much distance between myself and those crazy reporters as I could. I didn't get very far, however, before I crashed straight into someone and, disoriented as I was already, toppled over.

Strong arms caught me before I hit the floor and hauled me backwards into the temple. I stumbled along blindly for a moment until I was pulled into a shadowy alcove and took a few deep breaths, willing my head to stop spinning. Then I looked up, and Gippal smiled.

"It's mad out there, isn't it Cid's Girl?" he said with a crooked smile.

I didn't say anything, still intent on making sure I did pass out cold at Gippal's feet. He must have sensed that I wasn't exactly feeling so hot because he slid in arm around my waist and helped me down the hallway, heading for his study. I glanced behind us.

"Won't the reporters just come in?" I asked worriedly, fearing slightly for the safety of the Tilgmehks.

"Not if we block them out," Gippal replied simply. "This temple happens to be one of the most fortified buildings in Spira. It's solid rock. If we want to stop people from getting in, we can." He smiled down at me. "It's one of the reasons we chose it."

I smiled back, reassured and Gippal pushed open the door to his study, which we had now reached. I moved inside, then stopped short.

"Ryhcis?"

"Rikku." He moved forward, taking both my hands in his and staring down at me with that intense gaze.

"What are you doing in here?" Gippal asked, closing the door behind us with a little more force than necessary.

"I was looking for you." Ryhcis tore his gaze away from me to look up at Gippal. "Sahden wanted me to find you and inform you about the incident that took place in Bevelle this morning."

"Why isn't he doing it himself?" Gippal asked suspiciously.

"Because he's out front, trying to deal with the reporters," Ryhcis answered easily, before turning to me. "Do you need to sit down?"

I nodded wearily, and he helped me over to one of Gippal's oversize chairs before pulling one out for himself. Gippal sat down across the table from us, glaring at Ryhcis with undisguised animosity.

"Well," he said rather unkindly. "Tell us."

"All right," Ryhcis replied, seeming unperturbed by Gippal's tone. "This morning, three ex-priests of Bevelle were attacked when they went to the temple for a meeting the praetor was holding."

"Baralai--" Gippal interrupted, hands clenching unconsciously on the table.

"Unharmed," Ryhcis said, and Gippal sank back with a sigh of relief. "But the priests were killed. Shot to death."

"By Al Bhed guns?" I asked, remembering the reporter's questions.

"No, by Bevelle ones," Ryhcis said. "People in the temple recognized the sound of the shots. They went running, but an explosion stopped them."

"An explosion?"

"Yes, it destroyed the bodies completely and took out a large section of the temple."

"Does anyone know what caused it?" I asked.

"Explosives," Ryhcis said with a shrug. I giggled. Gippal glared at the both of us.

"Are people blaming it on the Al Bhed?" he demanded, as though it were Ryhcis' fault if they were.

"Not really," Ryhcis said, small lines appearing between his eyebrows as he frowned. "Why?"

"There are about a billion reporters out front," I supplied helpfully. "They just about mobbed Gippal and me, asking about the explosion here and about the one in Bevelle."

"And about Al Bhed Vun Spira," Gippal interjected darkly.

"Really?" Ryhcis interest was polite and cool. Gippal shot him him a withering glare, then moved over to a machina on the wall. Pressing a button, he leaned towards it and barked,

"Sahden, to my office, immediately."

He threw himself back into his chair, staring at the table, apparently deep in thought. I didn't want to break him out of his reverie, but I had to ask.

"Who's Sahden?"

"He's a friend of mine," Gippal explained, looking up from the table to give me a brief smile. "He helped me start the faction. You might recognize him Rikku, he used to be one of your father's advisors."

I scrunched up my face, trying to remember any advisor by the name of Sahden. I had come up with a vague image of a weathered face and smiling eyes, and oddly, the thought of chocolate, when the door opened and an elderly Al Bhed stepped in.

For one wild moment, I thought it was Meyn. This Al Bhed, however, looked less shrewd and more fatherly, and smiled at me with easy acceptance. His skin was brown and leathery, no doubt from years of living in the harsh desert climate, his eyes pale and faded, but he had an air of wisdom and geniality about him that made me warm to instantly.

I liked him even more when he spotted me and exclaimed in apparent surprise,

"Lady Rikku! Why, I hardly recognized you!" He spoke Al Bhed with quiet dignity, his voice soft and slightly raspy, but pleasantly so. "The last time I saw you, you were fourteen years old and had built your own machina that attacked your father and nearly took his nose off." I giggled at that, remembering the incident well. "And now, you're building your own machina yet again, but you've grown into a beautiful young woman!"

He smiled at me, and I smiled back, utterly flattered.

"I don't suppose you remember me?" he asked as Gippal pulled out a chair for him.

"You used to sneak me chocolates," I said, his friendly face and gentle voice jogging my memory. "Because my dad didn't think I needed the extra sugar, but I loved them so much. You used to say 'sweet girls deserve sweet things'."

"And so they do." Sahden turned to Gippal, smiling in the same paternal way. "Now son, what was it you wanted? I assume Ryhcis told you all about what happened at Bevelle?"

"Yes," Gippal said, casting Ryhcis another glare, but a very small one. All his attention was focussed on Sahden. "But I wanted to discuss it with you. Why do you think those priests were shot?"

"I don't know," Sahden answered truthfully. "People are thinking some Al Bhed may have done it, perhaps in anger at past wrongs or something."

"But we had our own explosion," Gippal cut in with righteous anger. "Are people blaming that on the Yevonites?"

"Some, but the Al Bhed are more likely to be blamed for that one too." He shrugged, and his eyes grew sad. "People naturally tend to suspect us. Old prejudices, you know."

"I know," Gippal sighed, falling back in his chair. "But isn't it possible someone wanted to attack both the Al Bhed and Yevon? Or that our 'attack' was merely a machina malfunction?"

"That's what it seems like to me," I put in. "The machina didn't explode due to a bomb or anything." I couldn't stop a faint flush from creeping into my cheeks. "I just installed the mechanism wrong."

"We don't know for sure," Ryhcis said comfortingly, twining his fingers with mine. "It could have been direct sabotage."

"But until we know for certain," It was a wonder Gippal's face didn't hurt with all the scowling his was doing, "We pass it off as normal, if unfortunate, malfunctioning."

"Right," Sahden agreed with a brisk nod of his head. "I'll pass the message on to the reporters when I tell them to clear out. I say that we don't know what happened in Bevelle, and we have no affiliation with Al Bhed Vun Spira."

"Thanks," Gippal said, favoring the older man with a grateful smile.

"Don't mention it," Sahden said, smiling back. He stood up regally, then looked at Ryhcis. "Come on," he said. "You and I should get back to work. It was nice seeing you again, Lady Rikku."

"You too." I smiled at him before turning my attention to Ryhcis, who still had a hold of my hand. He bent down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, promising to see me at dinner. Then he and Sahden left, leaving me alone with Gippal.

There was an awkward silence. I felt myself slowly blushing. Finally, Gippal spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

Instead of putting me at ease, this question made me blush even more, remembering how Gippal and I had 'slept' together, and how I had cried into his chest, and how he had held me so gently.

"Fine," I said meekly.

"Good." Silence fell again.

"I'm sorry about last night," I said at last. "I was kind of confused, and my head hurt. I didn't mean to go all weird on you like that. I'm. . . I'm sorry."

"I'm not."

I froze at the sound of this quiet, sincere confession. I may have been looking at the table in profound embarrassment, but Gippal, I could tell, was staring right at me.

"You don't always have to be so strong, Rikku." His voice was very soft. "Sometimes it's okay to let people see you're just as confused as they are."

I couldn't seem to find anything to say to that, so I just sat there, staring at my hands. Gippal got out of his chair and moved around the table until he was standing right next to me.

"Still, I'd rather it was me than Ryhcis."

"Gippal--" I looked up at him now, torn between anger and an odd desire to start crying again.

"I warned you about him once, Rikku." His eye bore into mine, flat and cold and serious, but with a fire behind it that threatened to break out and consume me. "And I told you to be careful. Now, with all this explosion and murder and Al Bhed Vun Spira business, I'm going to tell you again." He leaned down until his face was level with mine, mere inches away. "Be careful, Rikku. I don't want to see you hurt again."

And again, I was at an utter lack for words, and could only stare into that beautiful eye. I thought Gippal was going to kiss me, and while I knew I should be shoving him away, I couldn't move. My heart was beating incredibly fast, and I had that feeling in my stomach that you get when you miss a step going down the stairs. The room spun slightly and I felt like I was falling--

A knock on the door made both Gippal and I jump. Gippal pulled away from me while I turned my head and ducked behind my hair, desperately trying to control my blush. Gippal shouted "Enter!" and the young mechanic Derrick came in.

"The reporters are gone sir," he said. "Sahden managed to chase them off after he released his statement. I think they'll be back though."

"Of course they will," Gippal sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Thanks for telling me Derrick. Are you going back to your workroom now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Will you require any additional service? I sure there are some workers who'd could be spared to help with the clean up."

"Thank you, sir, but we'll manage on our own." Derrick looked at me, still sitting as I was, in the chair. "Will you be joining us Lady Rikku?"

"No--" Gippal started, casting me a glare that looked exactly like one Pop might use.

"Yes," I said, jumping up and ignoring the throbbing in my head.

"Rikku--" Gippal began again as Derrick added his own "If you're not well enough--"

"I'll be fine." I overrid them both, striding past Gippal towards the door. "I want to help." And with that I wrenched the heavy stone slab open and practically fled into the hallway.

---
A/N:
Real quick: Ryhcis I pronouce like Rie (ryhmes with 'die') sis. Rie-sis. Ryhcis. I think the 'h' is silent. And I'm never sure when it's possesive should I do Ryhcis' or Ryhcis's? That's the trouble with names ending in 's'. :)
Thanks to all the fantastic reviewers whose reviews just get better and better as the chapters go on. I get such a thrill when I open my e-mail and see them, and love reading them all, especially the long ones. You guys never fail to make me smile!
(And if you're reading but not reviewing, well. . . there's nothing I can do about but offer a desperate plea for you to also soothe my ego and offer me a little feedback.)
Still, thanks to everyone, readers and reviewers alike!