BTW thanks for the reviews... ahh I love ALL of you! Hehe… Yuna & Tidus aren't married yet they're just having an engagement party o.o;; Just to make clear it isn't a wedding.. yet? I dunno.. I suck with weddings x.x;

Chapter 6: Slow Dance

"Yunie!" I heard Rikku cry out and give a big hug to her cousin, former summoner.

They both looked really happy, Yuna flaunting her engagement ring and such.

"Awww Yunie, your ring!! It's so pretty!" Rikku squealed and held out Yuna's hand to show me the ring.

"Thanks," Yuna said with a large smile on her face.

"Gippal, look at Yunie's ring isn't it so stunning??!! Look at those diamonds..." I noticed that Rikku couldn't stop staring at that ring. It was like she was in a trance or something... it was kind of strange. Since when did she like diamonds so much?

"Yeah, it is." I replied.

Heh. It is a pretty ring... but that was all I could say because I KNOW I can pick out an even BETTER ring than Tidus--- for Rikku of course.

"Ohhhh Rikku you look so pretty, that's such a gorgeous dress!" I heard Yuna exclaim in delight, then take a glance over to me.

"Oh... hi Gippal!" Yuna finally noticed me behind Rikku.

"Hey, been busy with the blonde bachelor lately?" I replied teasingly. After all.. Tidus is still unmarried, even though I know they will soon.

I think Yuna got what I meant by busy, because she started turning red. Hah I'm good at doing that to people, especially Rikku though.

"Umm.. well Gippal, that's none of your business. Have YOU been busy with the blonde bachelorETTE lately?"

Bachelorette? I figured she was talking about Rikku, because this time Rikku was turning red--- red as a tomato… sooo I decided to taunt her a bit.

Putting my hands on her shoulder and shaking her a bit I said loudly:

"You bet! We've been VERY busy, lots of late nights! Isn't that right Cid's girl?"

"Oooo Rikku found herself an all-nighter!" Yuna said amused.

Rikku just stared open mouthed like she was about to say something... but never did.

"Well Gippal, never thought Rikku was your type..." Paine said sarcastically, overhearing and interrupting our little discussion. She always knew I had a thing for Rikku.

Rikku looked dumbfounded for a while....

"WH-WHAT...? YOU... YOU... YOU ALL KNOW THAT'S A LIE! GIPPAL AND I HAVE DONE NOTHING!"

"Oh Rikku! You and Gippal make such a cute couple!" Yuna joined along with my teasing. But it's true, we do of course!

Rikku was completely strung out and now even redder--- I didn't think that was possible.

"YOU GUYS SUCK! ....ARGH GIPPAL GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME."

"Aww Rikku..." Yuna said.

"HMPH..." was Rikku's response.

And with that she walked away, or rather, stormed over to Barkeep.

Paine and I just stood there laughing away at how easy it was to fluster Rikku.

"Well I'm going to keep an eye on Rikku, don't want her to come home with a hangover!" I said while eyeing her and Barkeep.

A slow song was playing--- meaning it was slow dance time! I knew whom I wanted to dance with, so I walked over to Rikku who had ordered one shot of vodka.

"Hey, bad girl... your not going to drink that now are you?" And with that I picked up the glass of vodka and drank it, this way if I act like an idiot later tonight I can cover it up and be drunk... I think I'd need a few more drinks though. I still haven't decided what to tell Rikku though... I'll deal with it later. Like I said, if I mess up I'll blame it on the vodka.

Man that was strong. Definitely not enough to get me drunk though.

"GIPPAL OF COURSE I WAS GOING TO DRINK IT!!! WHY ELSE WOULD I HAVE ORDERED IT?"

"For me of course." I smiled, and she just rolled her eyes.

"Ur bmayca!" ("Oh please!")

----------------------

Okay I need to ask her to dance... now.

"Hey... so Rikku..." I paused, not sure how to ask Rikku because it's not like me to be all sappy and polite around her. It's not like I don't respect her--- it's just the way I am... we're good friends and I like things the way they are. I've always thought about how things could get even better between us but I really don't know how to reach that, and I wouldn't want to risk anything.

The last thing I wanted to do was not act like myself around her. Hah, she might get worried about me being sick again.

She just blinked at me, waiting for me to continue my sentence. Might as well get over with it...

"...How about you and I have a dance?" I flashed her a smile--- of course everyone loves the Gippal smile, so why not flirt a bit? I mean it IS Rikku after all, this kind of stuff gets her all hot n' bothered.

Please say yes... please say yes, you know you want to...

She looked really surprised.

"Yeah, sure... I'd like that..." she said, mumbling the last few words.

"Hah, I knew Cid's girl couldn't resist!" I grinned happily.

"Tuh'd bicr ed.. Gi...p...!" ("Don't push it.. Gi...p...!") She was about to finish her sentence, but I grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the dance floor before she could say another word.

As I was holding her so close to me, a bunch of thoughts raced through my head. I could get lost forever in those beautiful green eyes, I felt like melting in her arms that she had put around me--- mine around her waist. She looked so relaxed, she was tired and soon enough rested her head on my chest, just pacing back and forth to the song in the background. I never felt this way before... my heart beat so fast. Hooh boy... so this is how love feels. I guess I had better get used to it. I've had many girlfriends, but I've never felt this way towards them (what I felt for Rikku); not even close. I wanted time to freeze. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. I'm just so afraid that Rikku would leave me later tonight. She doesn't know... she doesn't know what she is doing to me. If she leaves me... my heart would shred to pieces.

All of a sudden she pulled away a bit--- snapping me out of my trance, she looked down. She seemed... sad? Something was on her mind and I wanted to know what it was.

"Hey... what's wrong?" I asked as I looked into her sad green eyes... she almost looked like she was about the cry. Still beautiful they were, but it makes my heart ache and bleed to see her sad. I wanted to kiss her-- hug her right at that moment, make her feel better.

"N...n..nothing..." She looked away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Ahhh… spent until midnight updating this o.o;; I usually stay online later but I didn't have naptime today therefore I'm really exhausted…

Sorry guys, I read this over only ONCE… might be some mistakes since I usually read my works a bajillion times over and over again…