Sorry for the extremely long wait for those of you who are keeping up with this story. I really did not mean to stay off from this for that long. Anyways, I should be able to least get back on track with school starting up soon and everything; it will be a break away from everything for a bit. So once again, I am sorry for the wait. Enjoy and please REVIEW!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X-2 except for the ideas I get to write my stories. Thank you!

STS: story shifting

"…": speaking

'…': thoughts

FB..: flashback

Chapter 4:

"Great work guys, keep it up!" Gippal yelled from the top of the stairs that led towards the Chamber of Fayth in Djose Temple.

Making his way down towards the center of the room, Gippal stopped shortly and looked around the area. 'At this rate I'll be able to give Cid this shipment of new machina before the end of next week…definitely ahead of schedule,' Gippal thought as he continued his scan around the room before heading outside to check on the rest of the workers.

Upon stepping outside into the early afternoon sun, Gippal glanced around the area seeing parts of machina strewn all over. It got to a point that some of the people who traveled by here began complaining there was too much mess around the area to even continue traveling through here. Knowing what this would do to the little businesses around here, he made it a point to make sure the workers cleaned up their sites once they were through even though they were going to be working on them again early in the morning the next day.

Continuing on his walk towards the bridge, he leaned on the rails as he had done when he had talked to Rikku earlier. Looking down upon his reflection, he noticed the changes he had gone through over the past two years. No longer was he the immature person he used to be, he grew up with the help of Baralai, Nooj, and Paine. With the four of them having an odd relationship from the beginning only made him realize why they had probably teamed up together in the first place. With Nooj having the serious attitude, Paine the reality attitude and Baralai as the peacemaker at times only proved the reason why he was the 'high spirited' one of the group.

'Maybe I was a bit tough on Rikku today…well…actually…ever since I took notice of her…heh…who would have thought,' Gippal thought to himself as he looked away from his reflection and up towards the clear blue skies.

"Gippal!"

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he looked towards the sound of the voice only be met with the very same person who has been on his mind all day.

"Rikku?"

"Finally I've found you. You know, if you plan on going on an 'unannounced break' you better make it a point to tell someone," Rikku said as she poked him in the arm when she came to a stop in front of him.

"Well actually, Cid's Girl, I was just doing a check of the area," Gippal said as he turned around to face her.

"Right…a check of the area…on the bridge…I buy that," Rikku said as she smirked up at him.

"What do you want, Rikku?" Gippal asked as he knew she caught him and changed the subject.

"Geez…and you call me an airhead," Rikku said as she put her right hand to head shaking it softly while her left hand fell on her hip.

"…Excuse me?"

"Were you not the person who told me that from now on I was going to be working with you these next few days?"

"…I…did?" Gippal said as he tried to think back to what he and Rikku had talked about earlier.

"Yes…you did," Rikku said as she slowly began to tap her foot.

"Fine then, from now on you and I are going to be working together and you aren't going anywhere without me or one of my men going with you."

"Of course…that's right," Gippal said to himself as he followed the same action Rikku did earlier.

"So…"

"What?"

"Am I going to have to do all of your thinking now Gippal, too, or what?" Rikku asked as she threw her arms up in the air in frustration of how Gippal was being.

"I guess we can't have that now can we," Gippal said as he looked behind her shoulder to see which team it was that was looking a bit behind.

"Gippal…"

"You can help Section 3 in repairing the machina that Cid brings from the desert…they've been running a bit behind," Gippal said as he smirked down at her.

"With a scatterbrain like you for a leader Gippal I'm surprised that they're the only ones that seem to be 'running a bit behind,'" Rikku said as she stuck her tongue out at him before she turned to walk towards the area where the workers were.

"Rikku…do you have any idea what you do to me?" Gippal asked to himself as he shook his head before walking back towards the temple to get back to what he was doing before his little 'unannounced break.'

STS

"I'll have a new shipment of machina ready to be sent to you by the end of next week, Cid," Gippal said into the comsphere as he continued working on the paperwork on his desk.

"Good. The boys and I have been noticing a few areas around Home have been really buried deep and with the help of those new designs you have coming up…well…they should be a big help to us," Cid replied, realizing that Gippal has yet to look up from his work to look at him.

"We all hope so," Gippal said as he put down his pencils and pushed the designs to the side.

"So my boy, how is my daughter doing?"

"As good as can be expected, Cid. She's helping one of the Repairing Teams since they've fallen a bit behind schedule," Gippal said as he leaned back in his chair, finally looking up to Cid.

"You are taking good care of her, right?" Cid asked, his tone hinting more than what he wanted to show.

"…Well…"

"Gippal…"

"The thing is…she's a bit…the situation she's in right now is…uh…"

"I'm waiting, Gippal…"

"Okay, you know what…the thing is this, Cid…Rikku is-"

"Pops!" Rikku cried out as she burst through Gippal's bedroom doors.

"Rikku?" Cid asked as he tried to move the comsphere to where he heard her voice, but could only turn it so far until she came into view herself.

"How's 'Operation: Rebuilding Home' coming along?" Rikku asked as she sat on the desk Gippal's designs rested.

"Same as ever, girl," Cid said as he noticed the look Gippal was giving Rikku while she pretended that he wasn't even in the same room with her.

"Is there something going on here that I don't know about?" Cid asked bluntly, glancing back and forth between the young adults.

"What!?" Gippal asked as he nearly lost his balance on his chair while Rikku stood up from the desk only to lean forward and put her hands on the desk to give her balance.

"Are you serious, Pops!?"

"Well…if anything…by the looks you all are giving one another…"

"First of all…I have to look at him…willingly if I want to give him a 'look,' Pops," Rikku said as she glared at the comsphere before turning her glare to Gippal, who was unaffected.

"You wound me, Cid's Girl," Gippal said as he put his right hand over his chest.

"If only," Rikku said as she stood back up and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's it…I'm sending Brother and Buddy over there to Djose in the next couple of days. They'll be arriving there with the next shipment of machinas that need repairing, Gippal," Cid said, his tone being final.

"Brother? Pops, you know the only thing Brother is capable of doing is being in the way of what I'm working on," Rikku said as she through her hands up in the air only to bring them down to her sides, her hands rolling into fists.

"I'm only going to warn ya once, girl, and that's final," Cid said as he looked at both Rikku and Gippal before disconnecting the link.

"Aw phooey," Rikku said as she stomped her foot and crossed her arms again.

"This is your entire fault, Cid's Girl. Not only will I have two extras here that I have no work for…but one of those extras is your brother. Just great," Gippal said as he stood up and walked around the desk only to feel something hit him at the back of the head. Turning slowly around, he glared at Rikku with his one good eye only to look towards the floor where he saw the pencil from his desk he had been using earlier.

"Very mature, Cid's Girl…very mature," Gippal said as Rikku stuck out her tongue at him before stomping off.