Running Away

Chapter Seven

All The Important Stuff

A/N: I'm using a few people for a short lived cameos, sorry. I'm almost certain all of them are OoC...xD It's be a LONG while since I played any of the games they belong to...Hehe. They actually are helping a bit with the plot...believe it or not... I don't own any of them, either...did I ever make a disclaimer? Well, if not, I obviously don't own any FF characters...or I wouldn't be writing lame fanfiction. I'd be wallowing in my luck and wealth. XD

Word spread fast indeed.

The next day, during a particularly bland class, I noticed I was on the receiving end of one too many stares for it to be coincidental. I stared ahead at the white-board, determinately not looking at any of my classmates. Mr. Auron finished his lecture with a decidedly evil paper, due in a week. I inwardly groaned, slightly relieved at the hefty distraction, but marveling at the subject.

Spiran. A paper in entirely spiran on a spiran. Fictitious or not.

Greeeat. Shaking my head, I pulled out a pencil and began to scribble ideas for the paper down on a piece of lined paper. I heard a hushed giggle in front of me, then an attempt at discrete paper folding.

Oh, wow. The auburn-haired girl in front of me slid the said paper on my desk, smiling at me before turning back to her friend to continue giggling.

I ignored the paper for a moment, jotting down one last idea and picked it up, unfolding it at the crease.

I heard that you and Gippal are 'together', if you know what I mean...

Now normally, I would have loved a bit of gossip like this. I would have jumped at the opportunity to tell everyone I knew, exaggerating it to oblivion, not bothering to think at whose expense. Looking back, I probably hurt so many people without really trying to. Figures my own little scandal would make me realize this. Not that there was a scandal. Nothing happened...as far as I remember...

I sloppily wrote a curt response, passing it back to Auburn without attempting at covertness.

Mind your own business. It isn't something you should be concerned with. Nothing happened.

Both girls looked back at me, sneering as one began to write when my saving grace came.

The bell rang out and I jumped up, pulling my over-sized tote to my arm and shoving my notebook into it.

"Tootles," I said, waving to the nosy pair over my shoulder to their disgust.

I piled past the masses, out into the courtyard for lunch period. A girl in my chemistry class waved me over, smiling brightly—no doubt with curiosity of her own. I adored her hair, it was the color of dark chocolate and always looked perfect. She smiled, her brown eyes friendly as I shrugged off my bag and plopped into the semi-circle her friends had created.

"Hey everyone, this is Rikku. We have chemistry together." Rinoa said, taking a quick sip of her mysterious red drink. I smiled around at the unfamiliar faces, they returned it with ones of their own.

"Oh, are you that Rikku? The one everyone is talking about?" A girl sporting a cutesy upturned hairdo asked, her bright green eyes shining with anticipation. I made a mental note to ask her how her hair defied gravity like that...

"Selphie!" Rinoa cried, softly smacking her friend's knee. "Don't be so rude!"

"You know you want to know just as badly as I do!" Selphie exclaimed, not bothering to conceal her intentions. I giggled, but neither took notice. "Why else would you have brought her over here?"

I blushed, giggles departing and feeling unwelcome suddenly. Rinoa, who hadn't looked my way since Selphie first spoke, must have felt guilty—or genuinely sorry, for she snapped, "Because she's nice and I thought you guys would like her."

That caught the curious girl off guard and she backed down, humming to herself with a hint of an ashamed smile.

"Sorry about that." One girl said, grinning sheepishly. "Selphie is a bit..."

"Enthusiastic." Another offered. "But, well, are you? I mean, we've all heard the rumors. You getting busy with Gippal in his dorm...I dunno...I guess it makes sense. You look like his type."

My jaw flew open. "What!" WHAT THE! How did any of them even know I was over there at all!

All four girls stared at me like a flailing fish on a hook. Selphie looked excited and added in a rushed tone. "Yeah, people said they saw you go for a swim this weekend. They said you two had...well, y'know...sex in there-" I gaped, feeling faint as Selphie continued with ludicrous rumors, unaware of my dumbstruck awe. What the crap? How could anyone even believe such rubish! This isn't even--it's not at all--it's just...just...crazy! "-and they you snuck him back upstairs to your room and the entire time you were groping him." She paused, finally glancing at me. She frowned slightly at me, cocking her head in confusement. "What's wrong? Isn't it true?"

"Wha—no! Of course not. I've never—we didn't come anywhere close to—that's a bunch of poopie!"

The girls broke into scattered laughter at my wording.

"That's all lies." I stated, crossing my arms and holding back a giggle of my own. "We did swim and we were drunk, but none of that happened."

"Oh." A girl said, wiping tears from her joyful face. "Everyone thought you were a nympho or something."

My hands flew up, waving madly in the air. "No! I've never even..." A tint of red spread across my cheeks, I've never even had sex. I can't believe I almost said that. This entire ordeal is just...surreal...

Oh god! What if Pops finds out? Gippal would be murdered. Hehe, is it wrong that I find that a bit funny?

The girls gave a few last laughs, then took turns asking crazy questions about silly rumors. How had it gotten so far blown out of proportion? Barely anyone knows me or chooses to stay here on weekends when they're allowed to go home. The few people who had stayed were like me, with a busy family, and probably were out or asleep or something! The only people who knew Gippal was with me was Marza...and that girl, Yuna.

And, Yuna didn't strike me as the 'I'm going to spread horrible rumors' type. So, that left...Marza... Even Marza isn't that evil...is she? What am I talking about, she probably loved every minute of spreading these stories to every girl she knows.

The bell rang for fourth period, snapping me out of my thoughts and our conversation. We sat around, still talking about some of the more eccentric rumors being passed around before the second bell rang. I said my goodbyes, when Selphie gave me a big bear hug. I returned it, laughing.

"We should hang out again! That was sooo fun!" Selphie grinned.

"Yeah, we totally have to go out for some shopping!" I smiled back, heaving my bag onto my shoulder. "Call me."

I waved one last goodbye to the group and trotted the opposite direction, toward the math hall. I looked at the busy road to the left, passing the green-watered fountain. I paused, looking at my reflection in the green mess. It still weirds me out. I shivered, taking off again toward my classroom and crashed into a cushy wall.

The wall made a thump on the ground as I did. I watched as my notebook flew from my tote, skidding to a stop a few feet away. "I'm so sorry," I said to the 'wall', glancing it's way and stopping in my reach for the notebook. "Oh."

The 'wall' watched me blankly, face emotionless. Her pretty silver hair limp around her face. Badass girl's badass-ness wasn't evident today. Dark rings around her bloodshot eyes, the red orbs lacking their previous fire, and her face sagging slightly from an overbearing frown. She looked like she'd be through hell. "I'm sorry." I repeated, retrieving my notebook silently and placing it in my bag.

She stood, not bothering to brush herself off and turned to leave.

"Hey! I apologized, the least you could do is the same." I said a bit louder than necessary. I stood, dusting my skirt off.

"You ran into me." She said in monotone. "I don't have anything to apologize for." She continued walking, and for a moment, I could have sworn I saw a limp. The girl stopped and shook her head. "I remember you." The late bell binged, both of us ignored it. "You're Gippal's girl."

Why does everyone keep calling me that? First Tidus, now badass girl. Eesh, I didn't think kissing him came with a title. I bit my lip at the thought, holding back a giggle. I tried not to look too suspiscious, I'd rather no one know I sneaked a kiss. My blush gave me away, that I knew. I was never very good at lying.

"I'm Rikku." I said indignantly, this girl already getting on my nerves. I shook it off, smiling as genuinely as possible. "And, you are?"

"Paine." She raised her eyebrow, judging me. "You're Marza's friend, too."

Wait, PAINE? Gippal's friend Paine? This is her? She's the one who warned me about Gippal, like she knew everything in the world! So high and mighty of a girl I've never even met before in my life. Though, she did say he loved me...that must count for something...right? She would know him better than I do...was his flirtation with everything that walked and had boobs really just for show? Did he really, honestly like--

"Hello?" She said, a bit...impatiently? No, must have been my imagination... "Marza?"

"Friend? Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes at her name. "I'm about as friendly to her as you are to me."

Paine smirked at this, placing a hand on her hip. She leaned to once side—the opposite one she had been limping on.

"What happened to you?" I asked, tone softening. She froze, her eyes narrowing. "You look like you went and got into a really messy fight or something."

"Heh." She managed, avoiding the question. She looked out to the traffic, away from me.

"Seriously, are you okay?" I walked up to her, walking around her in a circle. Her skirt was torn just slightly at the hem. "Look, you've even got a rip on your--"

"I'm fine." She snapped, her cool demeanor never ending. "It really doesn't concern you."

"So, something did happen!" I exclaimed. "You know, you can tell me anything, I can keep secrets really well and--"

"Young ladies? What do you think you are doing? It's ten minutes after the late bell! Get to class!" The secretary shouted to us from the office, her gray hair looking mussed. Probably from a 'little' nap. "Go, now! Explain why your conversation was so important that you had to miss class. Shoo!"

Paine shuffled off obediently, not bothering even a simple goodbye or a wave.

"Right." I whispered, watching her limp off for a moment before running to math class.

0-0-0-0-0

I slipped off my flats as I stepped out of the elevator, sighing at the long day. A paper to write, a bazillion Calculus problems to do, and something about a battle map for history. Gah!

I fumbled around my bag for my key, shrieking when I couldn't find it. I tried my door, to the depressing sound of a lock being mashed around.

I dropped the bag, helpless. My only option seemed to be Marza, but like hell I'm going to ask her for help...

I sat down beside my door, cracking open my notebook. The page I had taken notes on was frayed slightly from it's fall earlier in the day. I thought back to Paine. She looked so hurt, so guarded. I didn't know her for long, but that look wasn't her normal self. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

I looked down at the notes, scribbled in fancy writing at the top read: "Characters, static or dynamic?"

I was supposed to pick a character of my choosing and write an essay on which they were and why I thought so. It wasn't challenging, unless you were me. To pick one character was impossible. There were so many to choose from. I scribbled down notes about "How to Kill a Mockingbird" would be good...deciding immediately that I wouldn't do that, TKAM was overdone. I wouldn't help that at all. I wanted to do something original. Something no one had ever done before.

Talk about impossible, right? Who hasn't there ever been an essay or a paper written about? I could pretty much rule out every classic character, book, movie, or TV show. Nothing new and trendy would do...

I glanced around the hall, the cogs in my brain slowly working to a revelation.

Mr. Auron never said they had to be fictional.

In big, bold letters, I wrote my own name down, among a list of people I knew and loved.

Paine, was the third on the list.

Right below me and Gippal.

0-0-0-0-0

Three paragraphs into the essay, I gazed around the hall, nearly screaming when I saw a pair of eyes watching me from across the hall.

"Hello." Yuna said, smiling as she studied my face.

"H-hi." I stammered, quickly covering up my rough draft. "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's rude to watch...I was coming from work when I saw you sitting out here writing." Yuna blushed and looked away. "I saw you working so intently that I came and read over your shoulder. I'm sorry." She had on a strange smock, it had a cute logo above a nametag. In gaudy letters--even by my standards--it read: "HELLO! I'm Yuna."

"Oh. Oh." My eyes widened, a similar blush threatening my own face. "I-I...um...hehe."

"How do you know Paine?" She inquired, tilting her head slightly. I noticed for once, her pretty bi-colored eyes. There was a scientific term for it, but I can't seem to remember what it is... I shook my head, watching her watch me.

"I, um, met her earlier today. She just sorta stood out to me. Oh, and Gippal mentioned her when I first met him...she seemed like a someone interesting..." I trailed off, registering how Yuna stiffened at Gippal's name. I felt embarrassed, to be honest. I'm writing an essay about someone I barely know, how awkward to explain is that? Let alone...oh gee, what if Paine did find out about this? How lezbo would I seem! Writing an essay about her, honestly. I was tempted to crumple it up and throw it away now. A lot good that would do me...

"Oh. Well, I could formally introduce you two. She was my roommate last year, I got to know her a little. She's living just down the hallway, actually. If you'd like we could go and--"

"No!" I said, hopping to my feet. "I mean, no, no, that's really alright. I think I'd rather not...haha. I'm actually locked out of my room...I don't know if you would mind, but can I use your phone? I sort of left mine in my purse."

Yuna blinked.

"Which is in my room." I finished, giggling at myself.

Yuna broke into a smile. "Of course you can." She politely nodded, walking up to her room and opening the door. "Come on in."

I followed her, stepping into her room in awe. It was so...clean. And beige.

"Wow, I like your room." I said nervously, eying the various pictures of Yuna and her friends. A particular one, one of her and Tidus innocently kissing caught my attention.

Ti! Oh, he is so never going to hear the end of this.

Yuna closed the door, walking over to her desk, and sat in the comfy looking chair. "That's my boyfriend." She said shyly, I could feel her blush, though my back was turned to her.

"I see. I met him a couple days ago." I said nonchalantly, hoping she, too hadn't heard the rumors. "He's really nice."

"Oh, thank you? That's my mother," she explained as I picked up a picture. It was her mother, but more importantly, her mother hugging my father. "And, the man?" I asked, shifting so I faced her.

"You should know." She said quietly. "He's your father. My uncle." My eyes widened, looking from the picture of a youthful, young woman—my Aunt—to Yuna, then to my father.

"Huh? Wait, what?" I said shrilly. "Cid didn't even bother to tell me! WHAT?"

Yuna's face was a mixture of amusement and guilt. She had known, and not bothered to tell me! She had every opportunity, and...oh my god! "Eep!" I exclaimed, rushing over to her and pulling her into a hug. "Yunie!"

Yuna laughed, hugging me back. "Sorry for not coming to you sooner, I figured Uncle Cid told you I was going here...or that you even knew about me."

"Well, of course I did, but the latest picture we had of you was before your mom had..." I stopped, easing myself from her. "—I'm sorry." I can't believe it...Yuna...why hadn't I remembered earlier? My cousin, the cousin I hadn't seen since I was in diapers! When her mother died, that's when we last met. Fifteen years later and Pops didn't even mention. Oh, this is a mess. "I can't believe it!"

Yuna stood, smiling, though her eyes betrayed her. The mother she'd known for barely two years still left this kind of impact on her. It hit home, but in a bigger way.

"Sorry, again." I said with a giggle, making my best efforts to lighten our moods. "Still, I can't believe it, tell me everything. I want to know what you've done, where you went, who you kissed," I waggled my eyebrows, receiving a short laugh from Yunie. "Why you're here! I want to know it all!" I threw myself onto her plush bed and rest my head on my hands.

"Oh dear, okay." She grinned, sitting down beside me and relaxing. "Well, I don't really remember much from when I was young. I remember her though. She was perfect! I loved her. She would sing all the time, and always be smiling. It's like she had sunshine inside of her. She was always happy..."

I listened as Yuna told me everything, she teared up as she recounted what little she remembered of her mother. I think it may have helped her, even if just a little. Someone told me once the only way to get better was to talk about it, even if you didn't want to. I listened as she told me about her younger years. How she couldn't remember her father's passing, but she could remember everything about him. The constant smell of coffee as he worked late on Bevelle's latest projects. The feel of his unshaven face against hers. His beaming smile whenever he'd see Yuna. Everything that was truly important.When she met Lulu and Wakka on Besaid, a little island far from Bevelle. How they were her family for a long time. Then, Lulu's move to Bevelle once she landed a job as a teacher at an odd school down in Bevelle's east side. She and Wakka moved right with her. Then, to her teen years, as she met Tidus and got a pointless job of her own.

I listened and Yuna talked.

And, it was perfect in every way.

Cheesy endings, I lub you -clings to her story- Gah! I'm not even going to apologize for not writing for a long time. I have my reasons. But, I come with many oneshots. XD

Aaanyway, I hope you liked this. This is the third version of this chapter. I have the original one I would have posted months ago, the 'improvements' and fluff-tastic chapter I wrote about Rikku and Gippal meeting up again--parts of it will show up next time. xD...then, this one. I liked this one best, seeing as I had every intention on introducing Yuna in this one...I got in two main characters, yay! (God, is this going to be a long fic. xD) This is a record chapter length wise, though I'm talking far too much in the A/N...over three thousand words!

And thank you all for reviewing. I can quite honestly say this is a record for me. I love it. I love you. Please keep reviewing like that, anon or not. (By the way, I love my anons as much as I love the signererers in...and if you reviewed anon, you can find responses on my profile :333) It makes me love writing. I feel more confident, and I do try and take your comments to heart. (I tried to be more descriptive...and in response to a certain review, yes, the drunk incident WILL be explained. I promise. It'll take time, and I've decided it will be my conflict...seeing I have no plot for this thing...yet. I can't believe I just admitted this. XD Oh well. REVIEW OR I'LL HAVE MY FEROCIOUSLY-EVIL KITTEN EAT YOUR FACE!
Ahem. Night night :333

As for the cameos, I'm thinking that they might just show up again. Who knows, I have to figure out my plot first. xD Whee!