Hi everybody! For once in my life, I don't have much to say before this chapter (haha). Again, it follows Gatsby pretty quickly-although, and it does hurt me to say this, Tidus does not refer to Rikku as "old sport." (Haha) Also, I meant to have this up yesterday but was acting up. Anyway, ENJOY!

IV: Tidus

I was surprised to have my job the next day. People glanced at me in an odd way as I walked to my small, cramped cubicle (I was certain it had been used for storage before my arrival and only some room had been cleared for me) and it wasn't until I heard a bit of whispered gossip by my new co-workers that I realized they all knew Baralai had excused me the afternoon before.

And I knew without inquiring that they all had their own suspicions of why Baralai had excused me.

So, with blazing cheeks, I attempted to work through my dull to-do list of entering attorney hours into the pay system. Then, when lunch hit, I decided to play it safe and eat my lunch quietly in the break room. At least the air conditioning seemed to work better in the break room than at my cubicle.

My thoughts were so troubled, though, that I was finding it difficult to do my work. I knew that I should tell Yuna about what I had experienced and seen the afternoon before. But how I could I do that? I looked at the small, outdated phone that was hanging just slightly outside of my ragged handbag and pursed my lips thoughtfully.

Instead of typing in attorney names and numbers, I pulled open a document in Word and began typing out "pros" and "cons" to telling Yuna about Baralai.

Unfortunately, the only "pro" I could come up with was "Because it's the right thing to do" and the only "con" I could conjure was "Because it's the right thing not to tell her?"

I sighed and x-ed out of Word.

The answer to my predicament, I decided as I turned back to my task at hand of typing out names and hours, was to wait until I was with Yuna again. Then, I would determined by the mood of our conversation whether I should say something. Yes. That was it. It would be rude of me to tell her by phone anyhow.

Feeling content with that decision, I managed to make it through my first full day of work.

Even though it was against my better judgments, I stopped at the mall on my way home. I browsed through the sales racks, looking for something that suggested I had money without the high price tag. I just hoped Tidus' guests wouldn't realize that my entire outfit was last-season chic.

As I paid for the new outfit (which still cost more than I usually spent on clothes), I couldn't help but wonder what I was doing. I had only been in Luca now for a few days and already I seemed to be spending far more money than I had originally expected to spend—and on what? Fancy dinners and fancy outfits. Who was I trying to impress?

Feeling a bit of buyer's remorse, I made it back to my small cottage (I stopped momentarily and tried to decide whether it could at least be described as "cute," but the reality was, the cottage was in a state of disrepair) and changed into my new outfit. I examined myself in the mirror, wondering if I looked like a bona fide Lucan. I figured anyone who knew anything would be able to see right through me.

I waited until dark, sitting out on my porch, staring off toward the neighbor's. If I squinted and listened hard enough, I could see people setting out tables and chairs and food and drinks. I even heard what sounded like a band warming up.

I couldn't help but smile to myself. I enjoyed a good party here and there, but it had been such a long time since I'd really let myself go. My smile faded slightly. I supposed it had to do with what had happened shortly after my freshman year of college.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back in the chair I was sitting on. Had it really been that long ago since I'd really partied?

I suppose I was a typical college student—I went away from home and suddenly had a taste of freedom and wasn't sure what to do with it. So I went a bit overboard. But I was always with Baralai. I reopened my eyes and took a deep breath. Had Baralai ever been my friend? Was Baralai my friend now?

Or had he just played me the way he played every other female he came in contact with?

But he was Yuna's now. I thought back to when I had received the invitation to their wedding. There was no denying that I had felt a twinge of jealousy when I had realized Yuna was marrying Baralai. But I wasn't so sure I felt jealous anymore. I thought of the sadness in Yuna's eyes and the strange, defeated look she had whenever anyone mentioned Baralai in her presence. And then I suddenly saw the blood that was dripping from Leblanc's nose and the way she had still crawled into Baralai's arms…

I was drifting asleep when there was suddenly a loud blare of music. My eyes flashed open and I looked across the lawn towards my neighbor's. The party had apparently begun.

Feeling it was too strange to creep across the freshly-cut lawn that led to my neighbor's, I instead took the longer route of walking along the road and eventually through the gate. Cars passed me, driving quickly and recklessly and there was a buzz of excitement in the air that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

It was almost impossible not to smile as people brushed past me, shrieking with laughter and wearing smiles as bright as the moon that was rising above.

Standing along the path to the mansion were men dressed in service suits, standing straight and at attention. I walked up to the nearest man and pulled the invitation from my flea-market clutch.

"Hello," I said. "Do I need to show anyone my invitation?"

Someone bumped me from behind and gave me an incredulous look.

"I don't have one of these!" he said, sounding upset. I smelled alcohol on his breath and knew that he must have arrived drunk.

"Me neither!" his companion said, also looking at my invitation.

"So you don't need to be invited to come to one of these parties?" I questioned.

"I've never been," the man said. He took his companion by the hand then and they took off, running, no longer on the path but instead across the lawn.

I tucked the invitation away and followed the crowd up to the house, where I found music, food, and drinks. People were swarming around everywhere and I actually felt a bit claustrophobic. I couldn't recall a time I had been in the middle of so many people!

I suddenly felt someone take my shoulder in a gentle manner and when I spun around, I saw none other than Gippal standing there, giving me a grin.

"Well look who wandered on over!" he said—or rather, shouted—"How's it going, Rikku?"

I felt so elated to see a familiar face that I forgot about my concerns with Gippal's, well, blitzball playing.

"I'm doing great!" I chirped. "You didn't tell me you were coming tonight!"

"I don't have you number," Gippal said and he casually put his arm around my shoulder. I hoped he didn't feel me shudder at his touch.

He pulled me over to the drinks and grabbed one for me and then himself.

"My whole team's here," he explained to me, bending so that his mouth was close to my ear. "You wanna meet them?"

Meet the Luca Goers?

I simply nodded.

Gippal kept his arm around my shoulder and led me over to a group of guys who were shotgunning beer.

"Hey guys!" he yelled at them. "This is my friend Rikku."

The guys just looked at me and started to laugh.

"They're not all that friendly," Gippal said, directing me away from them.

"I can't believe how many people are here!" I said. I took a sip of my drink, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.

"It's wild, isn't it?" Gippal said, shaking his head with a sort of incredulous look on his face. "And no one ever sees the host."

"Really?" I asked, realizing that I had forgotten to look for this mysterious Tidus fellow. Not that I would know him if I saw him…

"Yeah," Gippal said, tightening his grip on me and leaning close again. "They say he killed a man, you know."

"That's ridiculous!" I said.

"They say he killed a man and took all his money and that's how he got this huge place!"

"How would he just take that much money?" I questioned. Gippal just laughed and handed me another drink.

"Are you guys talking about Tidus?" a lady said, her eyes shining with a glossiness that only alcohol could cause. "I heard he's the son of the man who shot Lord Braska!"

Both Gippal and I felt our smiles fade at this and the lady must have thought our reactions to be too intense, for she turned quickly away.

"Do you think that's true?" I asked, spinning so I was facing Gippal.

"I don't know," Gippal said, shrugging. "But isn't that guy rotting away in prison?"

I swallowed and nodded.

"Don't listen to her," a man suddenly said, walking over to us, shaking his head. "Everyone knows Tidus is a drug smuggler. That's all. He smuggles them in from the Al Bhed territory."

"Is that so?" Gippal asked, looking offended. "And all drugs come from Al Bhed territory, I suppose?"

"Well, yeah," the man said, shrugging. "Ev'ron knows that."

Gippal rolled his eyes and me and said, "Everyone knows the real drugs come from Kilika."

Well, I hadn't known that.

"Either way, he's a drug smuggler," the man said. "I heard it from my cousin, whose best friend is a distant relative of Tidus'."

"Whatever," Gippal just said. He turned to me then, and took my hand in his. I felt as though we were both at that point where the alcohol was just making us feel happy—as though nothing could ever go wrong. "Let's go find him."

"Find Tidus?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, and with that, he led me off towards the mansion that towered over us. He led me into the open verandah and then into the house. The house was surprisingly quiet, although there were people about here and there.

We wandered through the house, bumping into interesting sorts of people here and there. But there was no sign of Tidus.

"What does he look like?" I asked, my voice low in case any of the men about happened to be Tidus. I even stopped in my tracks and gave Gippal a suspicious look. "Are you actually Tidus?"

"Ha," Gippal just retorted. "And I guess I have no idea what he looks like!"

Laughing for no reason, Gippal and I made our ways back outside and back to the table boasting the largest collection of champagne I had ever seen. Gippal took a bottle and popped it and drank straight from it before handing it to me. I hated the taste of champagne, but I didn't want to be a bore, so I drank it as well.

"Look at those people in the fountain!" Gippal said, spinning around and pointing towards one of three large fountains on the property. Sure enough, people were running through it, splashing around. I couldn't help but wonder how the people were so careless as to destroy their outfits which must have cost more than the out-of-season outfit I was wearing.

"I'm going to join them," Gippal said, and before I could stop him, he took off his shirt and handed it to me. I took it only because he wasn't suggesting I take it—he was dropping it right into my arms. I held the shirt to my chest as I watched him take off at full speed.

I was suddenly aware of a presence at my side and I heard a male's voice say, "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Hm?" I said, turning my head just slightly to show that I was listening. I didn't look at the speaker. "Oh, no. He's just a friend. Honestly, just an acquaintance."

"He's familiar."

"He's the famous blitzball player. Gippal."

The man next to me made a strange sound, as though he was about to say something but my words had silenced him so quickly that the words he was about to utter crawled right back between his lips where they had come. And then, he began to cough, as though he choked on those words as they crept back to his throat.

It was then that I turned to face him, and I saw a man with blonde hair standing there, trying to regain himself. While I will not boast to know much about men's suits, this man's suit was so impressive that I just knew it was expensive. He stopped coughing when he saw that I was looking at him and he brushed his hair back with his hand. I noticed he was leaning casually against a cane.

"How do you know him?" he asked me.

"My cousin is friends with him," I said with a small shrug. "He's one of the only people I know here."

"Are you new to the area? Where do you live?"

"Oh, right over in that cabin," I said, momentarily forgetting my embarrassment at living in such shambles.

The man's face suddenly lit into a smile.

"It's nice to meet you!" he said, taking my hand in a shake in an overly eager way. "I've been wanting to meet you!"

"Me?" I said. "Why?"

He made a strange face, as though he didn't understand my question. Then, he cocked his head slightly to the side and he said, "I'm your neighbor."

I felt my face fall and my eyes open wide.

"Y-You're Tidus?" I cried.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

I was about to say that I didn't know—that no one seemed to know—but at that moment one of the servants walked up to us and said, "Pardon, Tidus, but Zanarkand is calling."

"Oh, yes, of course," he said. He turned to me and gave me a small, polite bow. "It was nice to meet you…?"

"Rikku," I said.

"Rikku. If there's anything you need—anything at all—please let me know!" He was about to follow the servant back to the house, but he stopped and said, "Would you be interested in joining me for brunch tomorrow?"

"Oh, I have to work," I said, giving him an apologetic shrug.

"Lunch then?" he asked. "Where's your office?"

I told him quickly and he told me he wanted to meet me at the same place Baralai had taken me the day before.

I wanted to tell him that I couldn't afford such a place, but I decided I could pull out my credit card (that I only used for emergencies) if necessary. I told him I would join him at noon.

"I look forward to it," he said, smiling at me and waving as he walked away. He walked well, but I couldn't help but notice he was using the cane for support. I wondered what would have caused such a young man to find it necessary to walk with a cane. He couldn't have been more than two or three years older than me.

At that moment, I heard Gippal running up to me.

"Hey," he said, sounding out of breath. "Who's your friend?"

"Tidus!" I said, spinning around excitedly to point him out to Gippal, but he had disappeared into the crowd.

"Aw man," Gippal said, taking his shirt from me and slinging it on over his head. "I miss out on all the good stuff. What'd he say? Did you ask him it was true that he killed a man?"

"I get the feeling that he didn't," I said, confidently. He seemed far too likable to have killed someone.

Gippal gave me a small, half-smile, and said, "You like him."

"No," I said, quickly, but I felt my cheeks heating.

"Yeah you do," Gippal said, laughing and leading the way back to the party.

"I don't!" I cried. But my head was spinning. Partly because of Gippal's teasing, partly from admiring Gippal's nicely carved muscles, and partly because, well, because Tidus had been more attractive than I would have originally imagined.

Gippal suddenly stopped by one of the bars and said, "It'll be hard for me to compete against a guy like that…"

I wasn't sure what Gippal meant by that. Was he comparing himself to Tidus on a general manner, as though he wouldn't be able to get female attention because Tidus was better? Or did he mean he wouldn't be able to compete with Tidus for… me?

My cheeks were absolutely burning.

Gippal just laughed, though, and handed me another drink.

"Wanna dance?" he asked me, and I was just about to answer that I would love to dance with him when a man suddenly appeared at our side.

"Mr. Gippal?" the man said.

"Huh?" Gippal answered. He was obviously a bit intoxicated.

"Mr. Tidus would like to speak with you, if that's okay with you."

Gippal gave me a strange look and then said, "Are you sure it's not Rikku he wants to talk to?" He pointed at me in an almost accusatory manner.

The man looked at me, but then looked back at Gippal and said, "No. He would like to speak with you. Alone."

I spent the rest of the night toiling about, waiting for Gippal. I tried to dance around and make friends, but my eyes were continually going back to the mansion, looking for some sign of Gippal. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a little worried for him.

And a bit jealous.

Which was ridiculous, because I realized I didn't know if I was jealous and upset that Tidus had taken Gippal way from me just before we were about to dance or if I was jealous that Gippal was the one that got called into see Tidus and not me…

I ended up sitting on one of the stone steps that led up to Tidus' giant mansion and watched the party before me. It was a lovely night, but no one (other than perhaps those who had taken a frolic through the fountain) seemed to spend any thought on how nice of a night it was. I looked up at the sky and watched as the starts twinkled, my vision blurring just slightly.

It felt as though I had been sitting on that hard, cold step for hours when Gippal suddenly ran up to me and took a seat beside me.

"You are not going to believe what I just found out," he said, his eyes full of seriousness. He had been a bit drunk when he had disappeared behind the mahagony doors of Tidus' mansion, but now he appeared to be quite sober. His mouth was open wide in a sort of boyish amazement, as though he had just seen something for the first time.

"What?" I asked, my eyes widening as well. Had Tidus really killed a man?

But Gippal suddenly gave me a strange look as though he had forgotten that he had said anything to me at all.

"Oh… I, um, I'm not supposed to say," he said then, giving me a sheepish shrug. "Sorry."

He stood up then and started away. I looked around and realized that most of the guests had disappeared and there was a very slight ray of sunlight shining from the east side. Had I really been at this party all night?

"Gippal, wait!" I cried, running after him. "You're honestly not going to tell me?"

"You'll find out eventually, don't worry. He said you're having lunch with him tomorrow."

"Is it safe for me to do so?" I asked before I even registered what it was I was saying.

Gippal laughed and said, "Yes. Well, I mean, as far as I know, yes. I'll see you around, okay?"

I nodded as was about to let him leave, feeling a little disappointed with how the night had ended. But Gippal suddenly stopped and turned to face me again.

"Hey, can I get your number?" he asked.

Beaming, we quickly exchanged numbers, and just as he was about to walk off again, he stopped, turned around, and gave me a quick hug.

"See you around, Rikku," he said, winking as he did so.

I watched him go and let out a long sigh. I knew as I trudged back to my cabin that I would be worthless at work, which started in a mere three hours.