The blonde ran through the twisting, spiraling halls, panting. She could hear voices and she wanted to know exactly where they came from.

She turned into a room. It was dark, but not dark enough that she couldn't see anything. She saw three figures; her father, Gippal and Brother. They were all engaged in their conversation.

Bang.

The sound of a gunshot. Brother fell to the ground. She tried to scream out his name, but nothing came out.

Bang.

Now, it was her father that fell to the ground. Gippal looked up at her, worry in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could,

Bang.

Gippal fell face first to the floor. She rushed over to the bodies, gasping at the sight of the blood pools around them. She looked around for the murder, but saw nothing.

Bang.

Once.

Bang.

Twice.

Bang.

Three times. She set a hand on her stomach, feeling the bullet holes there. She turned around to see if she could see the – her – murder. Who she saw made her jaw drop. "V-Vincent?" She managed to stutter before she fell on the ground. She felt the tears run down her cheeks but didn't stop them. She whimpered in pain since she couldn't scream. "Rikku? Rikku! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Dreary-eyed and sluggish, Rikku sat up and rubbed her eyes. They were…Wet? What? She took her hands from her eyes and stared down at them, at the wetness. She them brought her eyes up, green spirals meeting crimson…

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

Vincent, having already been awake, heard whimpering somewhere within the house.

'Now who the hell whimpering at this time of night, host?' Chaos asked. Vincent shrugged, pushing the comment away. He got up and followed to where he'd heard the whimpering from, which just 'happened' to be in Rikku's room.

'Why would she be whimpering?'

'Nightmare, maybe?' Vincent replied.

'Well, that makes perfect sense,' There was no sarcasm in Chaos' voice, which made the gunslinger growl lowly.

Creak.

Vincent peeked in through the door of Rikku's room. He couldn't see very much.

Creak.

He stepped in the room and kneeled down next to her bed, studying her face. Tear marks stained her cheeks as her face was obviously showing some sort of pain. Her hand moved to her stomach, as if something were there. "V-Vincent?" His gaze went back to her face, seeing that she was still asleep. He assumed that the only reason she'd called his name was because he was probably in her dream – no, nightmare. Her face had a pained expression and he took this opportunity to shake, or call, her awake.

"Rikku? Rikku! Wake up!"

He shook her softly as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. He stood up straight and looked down at her as she looked down at her hands. She muttered something that he couldn't make out. She then looked up at him, their eyes linking.

"You were having a nightmare," He was the first to break the silence.

She nodded. "I know."

"Care to tell me about it?" The gunslinger sat down next to her, looking at her. Was that…concern she saw in his eyes? She blinked and looked back at him, noticing that he didn't have a shirt on, just pants. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. 'Thank Yevon that it's dark in here…,' She thought, nodding.

"My dream started with me running through twisting and spiraling hallways; they seemed that they'd never end. After a while, I ended up in a room with my father, Gippal and Brother in it. They were so engaged in their conversation that they hadn't heard me come in. And then, out of nowhere, I heard a gunshot and Brother fell to the ground. Another gunshot and my father also fell to the ground. Gippal looked over at me with worry in his eyes – I saw it – and tried to say something, but before he could, a bullet pierced him, too…,"

Unshed tears shined in her eyes but she blinked them away. She blinked again as she felt arms envelop her. As she was pulled closer to Vincent, she laid her head on his chest. 'He's probably really clueless doing this; But he has nooo idea how good this feels…,' She thought and shook her head, continuing her telling of the nightmare.

"But this is the worst part; I went over to the three bodies, gasping at the blood pooling around them-" She shuddered as she remembered that part. "-and a few moments after that, I got shot in the stomach three times. I turned around to see who had shot me and...I saw you. . .," It was now that the tears seeped out from her eyes.

Vincent blinked at her saying that she saw him. No sobs came from her, but he could feel the wetness of her tears on his chest.

"Get some rest, Rikku,"

Rikku brought her head up from his chest, pulling out of his grasp. "After that night mare I just had? No way!" She shook her head, her hair hitting her face, but she didn't seem to mind as some of it fell in her face after she was done shaking her head.

'Stubborn-ass thief, isn't she?'

'Yes,'

"What do you do when you space out like that, Vincent? Like, where do you go, what do you think of?" Rikku looked up at him curiously. Vincent looked down at her and shook his head.

"I don't 'go' anywhere because I don't space out,"

"Then what do you call it?"

"Talking to Chaos,"

Rikku's eyes widened as she sat on her knees, moving her face up to his, her palms face down on the mattress to keep her balance.

"Whoa! You can talk to him?! What's it like? No, no. What's he like?"

'Sarcastic, annoying, helpful at times. Tell her all that, Vincent,'

'….I'll tell her the truth,'

'That is the truth!'

'……..'

"Vincent?"

"He is sarcastic and annoying," Vincent answered.

Rikku laughed and sat back down on the bed, wiping the somewhat dried tears from her cheeks.

"Just like my father. Oh! Speaking of him, can we go see him tomorrow? I've begun to miss him,"

Vincent nodded. "Anyone you'd like to take with you?"

"You, Yuffie, Tifa, pretty much the whole AVALANCHE team, just not Barret and Cid; they'd upset father too much with their foul mouths," She smiled a bit, her head tilted slightly. Vincent nodded again. The thief looked at the clock. "2:30 am? Wow. I think I can stay up for the rest of the night. But, you, Vincent, you gotta get some rest." She playfully punched his shoulder, but not so hard to hurt him.

"I don't need sleep," He replied.

"Oh, yes you do!" Rikku got up and pulled on his arm, trying to get him off her bed. "Get your butt in bed now, Mister Valentine! Or you're gonna have something red and pointy up your butt!"

Vincent laughed and got up, letting her push him to his room. She shut the door behind him and went back to her room, took out a pen and notepad and began drawing.

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

9:00 came and Rikku was up cooking, again. She glanced up at the clock that was on the oven and blinked. 'Nine o' clock and he's still not up?' She shook her head, turned the stove off and took of her apron, heading upstairs. She opened Vincent's door, finding him still asleep. She shook her head and stepped into his room, kneeling down next to his ear.

"WAKE UP!!!" She yelled. Instantly, Vincent sprang up, looking around. The blonde laughed, clutching her stomach. Vincent looked over at her and gave her one of his death glares. She didn't once twitch; just stared back at him innocently.

"C'mon. Breakfast is cooking. Cid'll come pick us up in an hour or so; Cloud's coming on Fenrir. Get up and dressed!" And with a final clap of her hands, she turned and walked out, shutting the door behind her so he could have his privacy.

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

"Come on Vincent! We don' have all day!" Cid yelled. Vincent walked casually out of the manor. Rikku watched Cloud come closer and closer on Fenrir. Once he stopped, she ran over to him.

"Oh! Can I ride on the Fenrir with you, Cloud? I've never rode on a motorcycle before!"

Cloud smiled and nodded.

"What's wrong with my airship?!" Cid yelled to Rikku.

"I'm right here! No need to yell. And there's no problem with your airship, I'm just afraid of heights."

Cid blinked and waved his hand dismissively, turning and walking away, mumbling something under his breath. "Alrigh'! Everyone, except Rikku, on the Highwind!"

"Tell me about the motorcycle ride later!" Yuffie whispered to Rikku.

"Eck! Nothing's gonna happen between me and him, Yuffie!"

"No, no, no! I didn't mean that! I meant what it's like riding a motorcycle; I've never been on one either."

"Ohhh. Okay."

"Yuffie! On the Highwind!" Cid yelled once again.

"Coming, coming!" Yuffie waved and ran towards the airship. Rikku turned on her heel and got on Fenrir, wrapping her arms around Cloud's waist.

"Ready?" Cloud asked.

"Yup!"

"Okay." Cloud started Fenrir and soon, they were zipping past trees. All the while, Rikku was remembering the ride with Tidus to Macalania Temple…

"Sorry about Wakka!" Tidus said.

"Eh heh heh…he didn't have to be so mean, ya? I almost cried," Rikku replied.

"Uh, Rikku?"

"Just kidding! It's okay. At least you're still nice."

Silence for a while.

"Hey, do I look like Yunie, you think?"

"Huh?"

"Well, my dad's sister is Yunie's mother. You get it?"

"Hmm…Ah! I had no idea. If you say so,"

"Mhm."

"Okay! I guess you're guarding your family, then."

Rikku looked down. "Yuna's not the only one that I want to protect…,"

"Huh?"

"We Al Bhed want to protect all of the summoners, you know? Summoners are…Well, you could say that...they sacrifice themselves to, well, bring happiness to Spira."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh!"

"Rikku?"

"Yes?"

"'sacrifice themselves'?"

"You know, the pilgrimage! It, uh, takes a lot outta you."

"Oh! Right. But you know, Yuna's real serious about being a summoner. For Yuna, the pilgrimage kinda means everything to her. You are gonna help her, too, aren't you Rikku?"

"Mhm,"

"So you shouldn't say that Yuna's sacrificing herself."

Rikku tightened her grip around Tidus's waist.

"Uh, Rikku?"

"I hope you're right."

"Rikku?" Cloud looked back at her.

Rikku looked up. "Hmm?"

"We're here."

"Oh," She let go of his waist and got up, only to stumble to the ground.

"Whoa, there," Cloud helped her up. "Knees were a little weak there, huh?" Rikku nodded, brushing the sand off herself.

"Where are the others?"

Cloud pointed behind them. "Still getting off the airship."

She nodded again and made her way over to the airship, clapping her hands loudly.

"Come on! I wanna go see my father!!"

"Alright, alright! We're coming!" Replied Tifa.

Soon, everyone was out of the airship and following Rikku towards Home.

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

When they got there, bodies were spread all around. Rikku looked around in horror.

"No, no, no, no!"

She held back the tears, trying to identify who had been killed.

'Father. Gippal. Brother! Where are they?! Please don't tell me they were killed, too!'

The thought scared her. She ran towards the place where machina was made and went into Gippal's office, since he was the manager and creator of machine. There, she found him on the floor, three bullet places on his body; one in his stomach, one on his arm, and the other in his chest…oh, so close to his heart. He was still breathing, though Rikku knew that his breathing would soon stop. She kneeled down next to him, placing his head in her lap.

"Gippal," She whispered, "what happened?"

"The Bevelle…came looking for something, though they didn't look like Bevelle." He answered.

"Didn't look like Bevelle?"

"No. They had black suits on,"

She blinked. 'Could he mean the Turks? The Turks came here? But why would they come here? What could they possibly be looking for?'

"Rikku," His voice interrupted her thoughts, "I'm sorry for what I've done; I regret it now. I love you and always will." He reached up and placed his hand on her cheek. She felt something leathery in his hand. She looked at his hand, seeing that he was giving her his eye patch. But what she didn't hear, was his last breath. Tears rolled down her cheeks for the second time as she looked down at Gippal, feeling a presence behind her. Instantly, she knew it was Vincent.

"I've always wondered what he looked like without his eye patch…," She wiped her tears away, not noticing the blood hand print on her cheek from Gippal, and shook her head, standing up. She clutched the eye patch in her hand and whistled. In 5 minutes, guards surrounded her, not seeming to even see Vincent.

"Take Gippal's body and preserve it until proper arrangements can be made," The guards nodded but didn't move. "Now!" Rikku shouted. "Yes, Miss Highwind," One of the guards answered. The guards instantly did what she said.

"Don't call me 'Miss'. It's just Rikku,"

"But, your father ordered –"

"I don't care what he ordered! I don't like being called 'Miss'! Makes me sound old," She mumbled the last part and turned on her heel to see the rest of AVALANCHE behind her. 'When did they come in? I didn't hear them,' She shook her head and sniffled.

"Let's go see if Brother and my father are still alive," She walked past Vincent, not bothering to make any eye contact with him, and went higher up the stairs.

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

Vincent took one last glance at Gippal's dead body and closed his eyes. 'Seems I assumed wrong of him,'

'He is expected of acts such as what he did; even Rikku knew that he was more aggressive, jealous and teasing than a lover,' Chaos' words echoed in Vincent's mind.

"Vincent?" Vincent opened his eyes and looked down at the ninja before him. "Are you coming?" Yuffie smiled as he nodded and grabbed his wrist, pulling him behind her.

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

"Father," Rikku addressed him. She walked into his office and stood in front of his desk, Tifa, Vincent, Yuffie and Cloud behind her. Her father looked up from his paper work and blinked.

"Yes, daughter?" He seemed to mock the way she called him 'father'.

"Did you have any idea that we were attacked?"

Her father nodded. "Yes,"

"Then why didn't you do anything about it?"

"There was nothing I could do. I sent the guards and soldiers out."

"And we've lost some of them. Heck, we've lost half our race. Again. Have any clue who attacked us?"

Cid nodded again. "Yes."

"Who?"

"They called themselves the 'Turks'."

Vincent almost choked. Rikku tilted her head. "Turks?"

"Yes, Turks. But never mind them; there are more important things to deal with."

Rikku was out raged by this. "More important things?! Like what?"

"Cugz ayo kyurk dy msyyc ed mnurhe esetila."

"What?"

"Yes. You're going to msyyc there,"

"WHAT?!"

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

A/N – END.

Translation for Rikku's father's words; "Like you going to school at ShinRa Academy,"

DUN DUN DUNNNNN xD

There WILL be a sequel to this&it'll be a RikkuxVincent one instead of a RikkuxGippal one since Gippal's dead. I seriously almost cried writing the death scene… D: This is probably my longest chapter o.o;;