Thank you for reading this far.

Disclaimer: I don't own FFX-2 Square does.

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Seven and a Half Circles

Chapter 1

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We were in some private quarters of an age-old government building. I had arrived late, and had to be escorted by a nice priestly fellow to the room where all the mannequins danced. The music was a lot of pretty, classy sounds thrown together aimlessly, but people danced with the class it pretended to have. The expensive colorful dresses worn by half the patrons twirled all at the exact same moment. They looked like gears in some useless machine. There is a sort of love in this wonderful blind conformity. Safety in mundane, solidly real things.

I suddenly had the irrepressible urge to sprout wings and fly.

"Lady Rikku," called a voice. Isn't it curious that being called a lady made me feel like a man? I turned every which way to find where it came from but I couldn't find a single source. Then my eyes landed on the white hair of the praetor.

I offered a wave as he bowed to me softly looking for something in return. He looked nervously at me, then bowed again and I copied this meaningless gesture, wondering if he wanted something or if he was having some sort of malfunction.

"Lady Yuna, has been very worried about you, every one is getting annoyed with her constant fretting over your well-being. We were having trouble getting her to speak of anything else," he laughed but stopped abruptly, "All is well now though… Miss Rikku, are you aware that you only have one shoe on?"

I smiled as sweetly as I could, "Oh, I know. I had to throw it at someone."

Actually I was using it to express my appreciation for the locale law enforcement, while he was standing in front of a small man-made canal. I wasn't allowed get it out of the water after it fell in so I threw my other shoe at the guy, this one he caught and winged right back at me. It was warm and I was already late, so I just didn't bother. What's a shoe anyway?

He just gave me a brief nod then led me over to were Yuna was, and she gave me a big hug. After being reassured that nothing terrible happened to me during the quarter mile walk from my hotel room, she was ushered away to greet people. I was left alone with Tidus.

"You look like a prostitute." He stated simply playing with one of the straps of my little white dress, he laughed a little when I wrinkled my nose at him, then softened his face into a smile, "No one ever told me you grew up to be so pretty, I'm still used to my little Rikku." Tidus gave me a soft, heart-melting smile that told me he was kidding and I laughed before swinging in front of him and holding out a hand.

"Will you dance with me?" I whispered hopefully. He took the hand without a second thought and swung me around into the crowd. We danced against them, faster and wilder. My dress was too short to swing like a gear any way.

This was the side of Bevelle that I loved. With all the perfect people I stood out and threw their perfect machine out of pace. One wrong gear and the whole thing stopped working. I liked standing out, even if it was because the entire city was burning at my feet.

They stared at us as we twirled around in an aimless fashion. I tried to get Tidus to get a little bit dirtier in his dancing but he sort of shrugged me off and we settled for an angular square dance. By this time the gap between the two of us and the people around us had widened. I told him that it felt like we had our own shameful spot light. The music began to slow and he pulled me close to him laughing in response to my giggle. He put his chin on my head lazily.

"You know I was starting to think you wouldn't show. I was getting worried." He said breezily and twisted some of my hair in his fingers. The feeling was odd. I felt a little light-headed and sick.

"Did you miss me?" I chirped with all the vigor of a downtrodden housewife.

He laughed loudly then pushed me away from him clearing his throat, "We should have an affair!" The quiet room filled itself with gasps and disaproving looks. That in it's self gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I smiled, knowing he was playing a game, but liking it nonetheless. I pulled on his tie and leaned my hips into him, "Yes, please."

We exited the party with all eyes on us, laughing like drunkards. Guards were patrolling the balcony when we got there they walked away believing we needed privacy. Not too far away though, they watched from afar. I gave one a devious look.

I silently wished Yuna had been near when he said it, that wonderful thing. She would have freaked out and had a mental break down, before Tidus explained that we are incredible vapid and boring creatures with nothing in common so we resort to sexual innuendos which, of course, unify even the most unique people. I would have nodded and pretended that I had been kidding, and we all would have avoided eye-contact for several weeks. It had happened before. Yuna cried. It was funny.

But really, I love Yuna. Really, really.

"Rikku?" He looked at me seriously for a minute and I narrowed my eyes trying to give him back the same look which only resulted in him laughing at me so I stopped, "I want to ask you something, but I want you to be entirely serious about it okay?"

I nodded. I didn't like the tone of his voice.

"You know Yuna right-- urgh that's a stupid question-- I meant well you know what Yuna likes and stuff, correct? You know, like how her mind works?" Tidus said it somewhat nervously as he alternated between looking down at his hands and somewhere around the middle of my face. He was looking at me but not into my eyes. His hair moved in the slight breeze tonight, it was then I noticed he was blushing.

"Well she's not that complex, why?" I kept wondering why every time I tried to breathe my breath caught in my throat.

He looked at the sky, "Do you think she will say yes, if I ask… I ask her to… If I ask her to marry me?"

I fell into a fit of coughing. Their might have been some choked laughter mixed in with it, the kind of insane laughter that only comes when you're devastated. All I knew was I was having trouble breathing and it didn't feel like my heart was beating any more. When I fell to my knees he laughed nervously and rubbed my back. I stopped suddenly and looked up at his burning red face.

"Of course." I said sadly, "Of course she'll say yes." Then we were tackled into a hug that threw us both the rest of the way to the floor.

"You'd tell me if she would say no wouldn't you?" He muttered and held me a little closer to him, like the cruel ignorant bastard he is. Still I wished he'd never let go.

"I'd tell you. I'd scream it!" I muttered through the repressed sob in my throat and buried my head into his chest.

"Well we've got that thing tomorrow, so the day after, will you come with me to pick out a ring?" He said while playing with my hair.

Was he really this ignorant? Didn't he know that I was already so close to being dead inside from this conversation? Didn't he know that I liked, or loved, or was just enamored with him? I wanted more than any thing to just run away from this and now, maybe dive into the ocean and never come back. He would pick her out a stupid ring and they would have stupid children, while I swam. I would swim forever.

"You know I will," I whispered and pulled myself off him with a fake smile. I felt all the pride from having heroic self-control, and all the deadness that came with it. He stood up and wrapped his arms around me, not noticing a single thing. He never noticed a damn thing.

"This means a lot." He said then moved us slowly back into the room. Yuna was waiting for him and gave me a tired look. They parted from me and danced in the crowd of the women with dresses. They looked painfully content, in their element, and just in love. They didn't need to make fools out of themselves to have fun together. I looked at them sadly and told myself I was just being stupid. How would I have ever ended up with my cousin's lover any way?

It was weird but that never seemed important before. I never noticed how much he loved her. I should have stopped loving him then and there, told myself it was a broken cause. But selfishly I hoped she would say no.