A/N: I added a chunk at the end, after the second line break. It's not that much but I decided not to put it in the next chapter.
~Rikku~
"Hey, you think Ammy seemed a bit off this week?" I asked Shiva as we were walking back to the room after our last class for the week.
"Not particularly," she answered with a shrug.
"Maybe its just me, but she seems a bit distracted or something," I pondered while stroking my chin.
"You worried?" She asked with a soft smile.
"Of course I am," I said proudly. "I'll have you know I even worry about Red."
Shiva gave a short chuckle, "then we will just have to ask."
"Yup... wait, we?" I asked surprised.
"Forgive me, I assumed you would want my company," sounding a little downcast.
"No, I didn't mean it like that, I was just surprised you would volunteer like that." I quickly tried to clear things up, "of course I like hanging out with you."
I was a little nervous that I had upset her, but her smile returned and said, "as do I."
I took a breath in relief as we arrived back to the room. Tossing my books onto my table I changed topics, "and speaking of Red." I grabbed two large, rolled up papers from my desk and spun around to Shiva. "Take a gander at this," unrolling the blue paper with a flourish and handing them to her, "I just finished this afternoon." She studied both carefully and handed them back while I eagerly waited for her opinion, "so what do you think?"
"They are very well drawn with clean, precise lines and plenty of detail," she stated, being overly analytical. "But, what does this have to do with Red?"
I rolled my eyes at both her literalness and question, "this happens to be the blue prints of the weapon I designed for Red. What I wanted to know was if it was cool and if you think he'll like it."
"I cannot speak for Red, but I suppose it is rather impressive. Even if there are no dust enhancements," saying the last part more to herself than to me.
"Thanks," I replied happily, being impressive is high praise for something that does not involve dust when coming from Shiva. Although, now that she mentioned it, "Shiva, you just gave me an idea." I turned back to my desk and spread the blue prints across it. "It wouldn't be a good idea for me to try on my own," I said to her while waving her over. "But since you are such a dust expert, I may be able to put something even cooler in it." I was getting more and more excited about this idea, but Shiva was just looking confused. I pointed to the design to explain, "see right here is pretty much just solid metal. But, if I were to create a space inside you could add something special," I watched as a grin spread across her face when she began to understand what I was saying. "Yes, with your expertise we could add an extra kick with some dust. That is, if you wouldn't mind helping out?" I was a little nervous about asking even though I doubted she would say no, especially if her smile was anything to go by.
"I would be happy to help," she answered cheerfully. "I never had the chance to actually do something like this before and am excited to try. And besides, your project should be the best and some dust will certainly help with that."
I was happy to hear that she was just about as excited as me, "alright let's get planning!"
"I thought you wanted to speak to Ammy?" Shiva interrupted.
"Oh yeah," I said while scratching my cheek. "I guess I got carried away, but we could just wait here 'till she gets back."
"And while we are waiting, we figure out how to put dust into your weapon right?" She teased.
"Sounds like a plan Shiva," she just shook her head and pulled her chair over to my desk. I sat next to her and immediately started. And the entire time we worked together, I noticed that Shiva's smile never left her face.
I wasn't too sure how long we were debating different ideas, but it was probably only about an hour. Getting the dust in and out of the weapon wouldn't be too difficult, so refilling and changing the type was possible during a fight. The real problem we had to solve was how to keep the dust from detonating from the shock of an impact while still being able to easily activate it. We figured using a modified, travel canister should work, but we would have to see how much impact it could take. Not that Red's semblance would help with accidental explosions, as he seemed to create them on his own.
While I was sketching up the parts that I would have make, and Shiva watching over my shoulder, the door swung open. As I had to make room for Shiva it nearly hit me, forcing me to lean out of the way and bumping into her. "Jeeze, trying to take me out with the door?" I joked still leaning on Shiva away from the door.
The door closed again revealing a surprised Ammy and letting me sit up straight again. "My apologies, I did not know you were so close," Ammy said apologetically.
"Don't worry you didn't hit me," waving off her concern and turned to Shiva, "sorry for bumping into you."
She seemed too focused on her hair to meet my eyes, but responded, "it's no problem."
Now that Ammy arrived I could find out if anything is bothering her. Quickly stacking my papers up, I then spun my chair around to face Ammy, "hey Ammy, you been feeling alright this week?"
There was a subtle pause before she answered, "I have been alright, why do you ask?"
"You just seemed a bit off, like you were distracted or something is all."
This time the pause was much longer with an ear swiveled in thought, "there have been a few things on my mind. It is nothing to be concerned about though," she tried to reassure me with a smile, but it was very unconvincing.
"Well there is nothing wrong with thinking obviously, but I know sometimes it can help to talk with someone. I certainly am willing to listen if you want, and I know that Shiva is a good listener." Looking over my shoulder at her, she had an eyebrow raised but nodded to agree. "See," talking to Ammy again, "so if there is anything bothering you we want to help."
"Thanks you two, I really appreciate it," this time she had a genuine smile.
"No problem, it's what friends are for right?" Ammy nodded and took a seat on her bed. I assumed that things were okay now and started to turn back to my desk, but I heard Ammy say 'friends' under her breath. Curious I asked, "you say somethin'?"
"I suppose there is something that I should confess," Ammy said pensively.
"Oh, ok. Go for it," making sure to be serious.
"I would like to apologize," she began quietly.
"Huh, for what?" I asked, confused as to what she would have to say sorry for.
"I have been selfish."
"Mkay..." I said getting even more confused. "What have you been selfish about exactly?"
"I have not truly earned your friendship. The entire time I have been here at Beacon I have not been trying my hardest as your leader, and I feel that I have betrayed your trust. Your well being was placed under my command and just because I did not want the responsibility, I placed your lives in danger." Ammy refused to make eye contact while she confessed and blamed herself.
I was certainly surprised, and kind of said the first thing that came to mind, "I didn't even notice."
This got look from Ammy, one of surprise and confusion that is. I was about to try and explain, but was cut off by Shiva, "I think what she means is, that you have been doing a good job as leader. Even if you were not trying your hardest, you have done a satisfactory job and I am inclined to agree."
"Yeah," I agreed, "and, I can't blame you for being upset by getting forced to be in charge. I can see why you would want to avoid having to deal with something you were forced to do."
"But, avoiding and neglecting my responsibilities puts you at risk. My selfishness put you in danger," Ammy tried to convince us that she messed up.
"Well, I suppose you are not technically wrong," I admitted and Ammy looked down in shame, "but! None of us did get hurt and you realized your mistake before anything bad happened." I tried to get her to see that she didn't actually do anything bad. Her mood did seem to lighten for a moment, then I remembered, "well, except for that android. But, you did a good job handling that situation."
Ammy turned to us, looking cautiously optimistic, "how are you not upset by this?"
"There is one thing that I am not happy with," Ammy changing to a resigned look, willing to take the blame. "I am not happy that I didn't notice that you were upset by this sooner," shifting the blame to myself.
"Rikku," Shiva said softly and I glanced back to see the concerned look on her face.
I gave Shiva a reassuring smile, and turned back to Ammy. "I may not have that much experience with helping out friends, but I do know that you didn't do anything wrong Ammy. So there is no reason to be upset with you," giving Ammy a reassuring smile too.
Ammy flashed a small smile in return before going back to her glum look. "I appreciate your kind words, though I am not sure what I did to earn your friendship."
"One does not need to earn friendship," Shiva began to reply, standing next to me and placing her hand on my shoulder. "It can be given to any who we deem worthy of receiving it."
"Uh, yeah. We know that you are a good person so we think of you as our friend," I repeated in a less fancy way. "Where did you get that line from anyway?" I asked Shiva off to the side.
Shiva shrugged, "was it too much?"
"No, it was just more poetic than what I expect from you," I teased.
"I apologize if it was too much for your vocabulary," she replied with a grin.
Ammy interrupted our back and forth by clearing her throat and got our attention back. "Not that I mind your conversation, but I wanted to thank you both. I did not expect you to be so understanding about my mistake, especially when it was at your expense." I was going to encourage her again when she started to be gloomy again, but she noticed and held up her hand to stop me. "And, I would also like to consider you as my friends as well, if that is alright with you," she asked with a hint of shyness.
"Of course!" I cheered and hopped up out of my chair. "Right Shiva?" I knew she did but wanted to make sure she said it out loud.
"Right, of course Ammy," was Shiva's easy response.
It was obvious that Ammy appreciated the words of encouragement and acceptance, but there was one more thing that was missing. "Group hug!" Raising my arms out to encourage them, though it was no use as they didn't move. "Really?" I said with exasperated sigh. "Well, at least be sure to tell us if there is any other problems we can help with," I told Ammy with sincerity.
Ammy nodded and replied with a smile, "I will remember to do so."
"Excellent," and now that we were done talking, I was able to notice the time. "Now I believe we should go get some dinner before we miss it entirely."
"Wait," Shiva stopped me and turned to Ammy. "What about Red?"
"Um, if he is hungry then I am sure he will go to the cafeteria. Though if you are worried-," I tried to answer, but Shiva cut me off.
"That is not what I meant. We had this discussion and he was not a part of it."
"Oh yeah," realizing what she meant.
"It is not a problem," Ammy said confidently. "Not only did I have a discussion earlier this week with him, though it was about something else, I get the feeling that he noticed what was going on. Even then we can all talk this tomorrow or Sunday, which I will be sure that he comes to the meeting. There should not be any reason for him not to come as we cannot leave campus grounds after all."
"Sounds good to me," agreeing with Ammy's plan and Shiva nodding as well. "However, I am getting really hungry."
"I will be along in a moment," Ammy said standing from her seat, "so you do not need to wait for me."
"Kay," was my simple reply. I grabbed Shiva's hand and waved with my other as I left the room. I didn't need to pull Shiva along like I do in the mornings, but that didn't stop me from holding her hand the entire walk down.
The next day it was time to finally get permission to create another awesome weapon. "Alright, time to find Red," I said to myself after following Shiva to the dust labs. I didn't have a clue to where he was so I decided to follow Shiva to see if I could spot him by chance while we walked. Leaving the lab building with my now updated blue prints, I began my search. I probably should have shown them to him last night or even this morning, even if I didn't finish the updates until this afternoon, as I had no idea where he would be. But it's not like I had any other plans today anyway, so a walk around campus would be a decent way to kill time on a boring Saturday. Normally I would spend the day at the machine shop doing maintenance on my Kaiser Knuckles or helping out if someone needed an extra pair of hands. Today however, I was on a mission to get Red's approval on the weapon. That, and people don't really want someone who's in trouble with the academy messing around with other students weapons, even if they were completely unrelated.
I pretty much just wandered around campus where it seemed like people gathered to just hang out. Seeing plenty of other students, but no one familiar, I headed to the training facilities. Altogether they probably took up about a third of the entire campus with multiple contest halls, the outdoor fields, and the various exercise rooms. It would take longer to check here than the other places, but it is most likely where he's at. The kind of students that are around there on a Saturday afternoon are the ones that care about their muscle just as much as their skill. And if Red's toned muscles are anything to go by, I would guess he should be around here somewhere.
Walking through the first year building, I made sure to look through all the windows and doors. At the last room I didn't see any sign of him, but when I poked my head through the door I over heard an interesting conversation. "What about that blonde with the gauntlets?" It was a couple of dudes gossiping on the bench near the door while they ogled the girls working out on the other side of the gym. "She's pretty hot," I wasn't sure if he was actually talking about me or not, but I was flattered either way even if they were not my type.
"I know you have a thing for blondes and all, but you haven't met her before. She is super annoying," yup, they're talking about me alright. It certainly wasn't the first time I've been called annoying so it doesn't bother me too much, it's not like it will be the last time either. "No," he continued, "the real hot one is the one with the blue hair and brown skin."
"Well yeah she is, but she seems a bit slutty don't you think? Always walking around half dressed," this comment got me pissed.
"I ain't got a problem with that, just makes things easier right?" They shared a laugh, but there was no way I would let them talk about Shiva like that.
I spun around the corner to confront them, my rage clearly showing, "you jerks think you're funny? Talking crap about people that you don't even know!"
After their initial surprise, they shared a look of 'oh shit' before the right one started talking. "Hey calm down, what are you yelling about?"
"Don't play dumb, I overheard what you two were saying and I am not going to let you talk about Shiva like that!"
"Alright jeeze, what do want from us then?" The left asked, raising his hands to try and calm me down.
"What do you think I want?" They just sat there with blank looks so I had to spell it out. "I want you two to apologize for insulting Shiva," I demanded with a glare and crossing my arms.
He snorted before complying, "okay, I'm sorry for insulting your friend." The other one adding on a sarcastic 'yeah sorry.'
Their half-hearted apologies didn't do much to pacify my anger, but as I was about to continue yelling another voice cut in. "You got a problem Rikku?" I turned to the door to see Red walking in and staring down the two jerks.
"Yeah I do," returning to glare at the two on the bench. Now that Red was here, standing off to my side, they looked much more sorry. "These two insulted Shiva and then thought it was ok to give a half-assed apology!"
"Hey, we already said we're sorry," the left one stood up to defend himself and the other echoed a 'yeah.' "C'mon, let's get out of here," he said while patting his friends shoulder.
Now that they were both standing, I could fully realize how much larger than me they were. Both were easily a foot taller and probably had like 100 pounds of muscle more than me too. Though the way they kept glancing at Red while they walked to the far side of the room made them lose any intimidation that they could muster. "Vanity muscle," Red scoffed, which I responded with a confused, 'huh?' Which he ignored to ask, "so, what are you doing around here without your gloves?"
"First, they are gauntlets," I scolded, but he was unfazed. "Second, I was looking for you."
This got an eyebrow raised, "and you thought to do that by yelling at a couple of idiots. Who are still talking crap about you by the way," turning an ear to where they were to show he could hear.
"Yeah, and what are they saying?" I asked, getting ready to go back over to them.
"Basically a 'told you so,'" he answered with a shrug.
I nodded and said, "whatever, as long as they aren't saying anything else about Shiva." I was feeling satisfied that they had at least felt a little sorry.
"You were just yelling at them because they insulted Shiva?" Red asked skeptically.
"Yeah, I am used to what people say about me, but when I heard them talking about Shiva that way," I shook my head when I felt my anger spark up again. "Well, it just pisses me off."
"Hm," he nodded in understanding. "Well, you got my attention, which isn't that surprising seeing as I probably could've heard your shouting across the school. So what did you want?"
I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm and responded, "I wanted to show you this and get your opinion." Handing over the blue prints, which got a bit crinkled when I got angry.
"Okay, let's go in the hall where it doesn't smell as bad though." I followed him out to where he settled on a spot, leaning against the wall while I just stood next to him. He unrolled the papers and immediately furrowed his brow while he studied the paper. After looking them over, turning them at different angles and switching back and forth a few times, he told me what he thought. "Okay, this one is a gun," lifting a page to point out which one he was talking about. "And, this one," lifting the other, "is a hammer?"
"Yeah, that's what it is," taking the papers back from him. "But, I wanted to know if you liked it or not. I already knew what it was seeing as I drew it." He just shrugged and gave a non-committed, 'sure.' "And if you did like it, then I would like to make it for you," figuring it would be easier to just tell him.
"Why," he asked with narrowed eyes.
"Why not?" I countered with a smile, "we are teammates and everything. Why wouldn't I want to make sure my teammate had a weapon to protect himself." Red didn't seem convinced by this so I decided to tell him the more mushy side, "that and I wanted this to be a kind of peace offering. I get that you don't like me that much and I know that we don't have to be friends just because we are teammates, but I wanted to show you that you could at least have some trust in me. Or something like that," mumbling at the end and rocking on my heals, feeling awkward talking with Red like this.
"Will I have to pay you for it or anything," Red said casually.
Taking this as him agreeing, an eager grin spread across my face. "Nope, all I need from you is some measurements of your arms so I can know exactly where to put the handles. I mean later, you will have to buy your own ammo and junk, but I got everything else covered."
"Alright, you got a tape measure?" He asked while pushing himself off the wall.
"Nope, but I know where one is," I chirped and started down the hall, waiving Red to follow.
