A/N: hey everyone. Well only one reviewer said that they would prefer me to update when I finish, but since it's taking me longer than I had hopped to finish it I'm going to post as soon as I write the chapter. Thank you so much, anyway to vampireprincessZ for your input I really appreciate it. Warning for this chapter, there is a bit of lemon in it, not overly but just thought I should say something so no one can complain that I didn't warn them.
Chapter15
When I woke up, Gippal wasn't asleep next to me. But I smelled the intoxicating smell of bacon, and to my surprise I found that I didn't feel sick. I figured that Gippal was trying to cook and be quite about it, because every few seconds I would hear him curse silently, then quickly stopping everything to try to hear if I was awake yet.
I decided to take my shower and pretend that I didn't hear or smell anything. And be surprised. I took a nice, hot shower for about ten minutes. Then I got out, dried off and decided to put on my songstress outfit. I walked into the kitchen and saw Gippal trying to make eggs and bacon.
I leaned against the door frame of the kitchen, waiting to see how long it takes him to realize that I was there. It was a sweet gesture, but very comical. There was Gippal, frantically trying not to burn the bacon, along with trying to scramble the eggs, but to no avail.
It took him a few minutes to realize that I was standing there.
"Rikku! Hi . . . um, good morning." He said.
"Do you want some help?" I asked walking into the kitchen
"Nah., I got it." He lied.
"Gippal, the bacon's burning." I said, which made him temporarily abandon the eggs, at which point I stepped in and took over cooking the eggs.
"I could've gotten it." He said, putting the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels, and blotting the bacon with another paper towel to get all the extra grease off the bacon.
"I know, but I wanted to help." I replied, finishing the eggs and turning off the burner and removing the skillet and placing it on a cool burner so as not to burn the eggs.
"Fine. But can I finish the rest? Please?" He asked with a pout on his face.
"Fine, but I get to set the table." I told him as I took two plates from the cabinet and set them on the dining room table.
"Deal." He said as he went back to preparing breakfast.
I finished setting the table, taking out the cups, napkins, and silverware.
"Gippal, what do you want to drink?" I asked over my shoulder as I put the silver ware on the table.
"It's alright Rikku. I'll get it." He responded.
"Ok." I said, watching Gippal place the food on the plates, and carry them to the table.
"Breakfast, my love?" He said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"You're very cheery this morning."
"Well why not, it's a great morning. Now that the Bevelle police are on our side, it feels as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Since they're focusing on the bombings, we can concentrate on the bombing at Djose, and see what we can find. Maybe we can even find Layla, and let her know what happened to Dravidian. So what do you want to drink?" He asked me.
"Orange juice." I replied distractedly. "That makes sense, but I think we should go back to Bikanel, my father knows more than he's letting on. Something's been bothering me since we saw Dravidian on that stretcher. Things are falling into place now. I'm almost certain that Dravidian has something to with this, and somehow knows my father, beyond them being at the old home before he met my mother. Something's going on Gippal, something I don't know about and I intend on finding out, and if I have to I'll make my father tell me, one way or another."
"How do you plan on doing that? Your father is the stubbornest Al Bhed out of the entire race, aside from you of course." He said adding the last part in a joking manner.
I rolled my eyes. "Now you know where I get it from. As for getting my father to talk, well, I'd hate to do it, but I'll just tell him that I won't let him ever see his grandchild." I replied quietly.
"Could you really do that? Could you ban our child from ever knowing their only surviving grandparent, and keep your father from knowing his first grandchild?" He asked me.
"He kept me, and my brother for that matter, from knowing my Aunt, Uncle Braska, and Yunie. I knew about them and they knew about us, but because my father refused to talk to my aunt, we never got to know each other, and if he had kept in touch then she might never have been killed by Sin, and then Uncle Braska would not have become a summoner, and died, leaving Yunie as an orphan." I said, my emotions a mix of anger and sorrow.
"That's true, and you have every right to be angry. But also Rikku keep in mind that if Braska didn't become a summoner and die, for what he believed in then Yuna probably wouldn't have become one, and defeated Sin. For all we know if that never happened then Sin might still be around today. One of us could've been killed, that or worse, our child, if we had still gotten back together, could be killed. If Sin were still here, our people would still be fiercely hated, and the Machine Faction would never have been created, and Home might still be here. If Sin were still around nothing would've changed. I mean we might've never gotten back together, and I could be dead due to the Crimson Squad. I know it's hard not knowing your relatives, I don't remember my parents, but at least your aunt didn't die in vain. That and would Yuna have met Tidus if his father didn't become Sin?" Gippal said.
It was true. I couldn't deny that so many good and bad things, but mainly good things, have come out of my aunts death. Like he said, she didn't die vain.
"You've right. But still I will do what I must, even if it's an idle threat, it has to be done, hidden secrets must finally be told for this to be solved." I said, my resolve sat.
"Alright. If that's what you decide then I'm right here beside you. And besides, you said it was a false threat. Right?"
"Right." I assured him, finishing my breakfast.
Gippal finished his and after we washed the dishes. Gippal insisted on washing so I dried them. After we made the bed and then went into the living room and turned on the news.
"Hello all. This is Shelinda reporting from outside Bevelle's Central Building, and also home of Praetor Baralai, and wife Lady Paine.
"Yesterday afternoon at around 2:00 p.m., another bombing occurred. This time the victim was Marcus Fieldman, a security guard, here. Earlier he was seen escorting two Al Bheds, the Lady Rikku, one of High Summoner Yuna's guardians, and Sir Gippal, leader of the former Machine Faction, and one of those who helped in the defeat of the monstrous machina Vegnagun, inside this building you see behind us. It was reported that they were on their way to a meeting with the Praetor and his wife.
"Not much is known about what they were discussing, and we don't yet know what happened inside this building, but I can assure you that as soon as we find out, Spira, you will the first to know."
"Again this was Shelinda reporting outside of Bevelle's Central Building."
I clicked off the T.V.
"Well at least they haven't released anything yet liked they promised." I said, slightly relieved.
A few seconds later there was a knock on the door. I got up to answer it and found Paine and Baralai at the door.
"Good Morning." I said opening the door wider to let them in.
"Good Morning." Baralai said in response.
"We have a serious problem." Paine blurted out, skipping all pleasantries.
"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.
"Thanks to that reporter, Shelinda, all of Bevelle now knows that you two are here, and they're not happy about that?" She responded.
I looked at her confused.
"You two are Al Bhed, the people of Bevelle still aren't crazy about the Al Bhed, and now that there's been another bombing, they're placing the blame on you two, and they want you both behind bars as soon as possible. They're right outside the front entrance."
I felt my face pale considerably.
"They're calling for action, they want us to arrest the both of you as I said before."
I closed my eyes. My mind was reeling at this new piece of information. I mean, sure I've been arrested once, but that was because we were charged with heresy, for coming too close to the truth and possibly revealing this info to the public, oh yea and killing Seymour didn't help either, but at least that time was because of things we actually did, not false allocations.
"We have to get you both out of here. There's a back entrance no one knows about. We'll get you out of the city and then Baralai and I will handle the crowd. But we have to go now." Paine said.
I quickly regained my composure. "Alright, let's go." I said.
Gippal kept a firm hold on my hand as we were led down many seemingly endless corridors and dark winding staircases. The corridors we went through were so dark that when we finally got to the door leading outside, my eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the sudden brightness as I saw spots for a few minutes.
"Just follow this road and it should lead you to the Thunder Plains. It's a hidden path no one's discovered yet, it's the way the entrance is hidden, that prevents people from noticing it. And don't worry, we'll do the best we can to keep the suspicion away form you, even tough we know you're innocent, they don't, and that's the last thing you guys need on you backs." Paine told us.
"Thank you." I said, and on impulse gave her a hug.
She was startled but hugged me back.
"You're welcome. Now go before it's to late." She said.
We turned around and started the journey to the Thunder Plains. We eventually came upon a tunnel as the ground started sloping downward, probably going below sea level, we concluded. We continued down this tunnel as it sloped downward a little more and eventually leveled out. After about fifteen to twenty minuets of waking down the tunnel we finally started to see some light. At the end of the tunnel we could hear the thunder and rain and yet no rain came into the tunnel.
We climbed out of the tunnel and found ourselves in the southern end of the Thunder Plains on the border of the fading Macalania Woods and Thunder Plains. The tunnel was hidden very carefully on the border and sheltered by a bush.
In the Thunder Plains my competitive nature came out and I challenged Gippal to a race. I was careful though, because of my pregnancy, and so I was very aware of my body and how exhausted I got and how much energy I used. Gippal took it easy on me and let me win. We only raced to the inn, and in all actuality I didn't really run, so much as I was speed walking.
But anyway, when we got to the inn, we went inside to dry off for a little. We stepped inside, and to our surprise saw Layla sitting at the little table in the front of the inn, drinking a cup of hot cocoa, her wavy brown hair falling to the middle of her back.
"Layla?" I said, walking over to where she sat.
"Rikku, Gippal, Hello. How are you? I had heard that you two were at Bevelle and was on my way to find you." She said.
"Oh you were looking for us? We were looking for you. We have some questions for you." I replied, taking the seat across from her. Gippal sat down next to me.
"Well I hope I have some answers for you." She answered.
"Alright, well my first question, How do you know my father?"
"Well your father is the leader of the LA Bhed, I lived at Home for a while with Dravidian, who as you know is half Al Bhed."
"I know that much, but what I mean is how do you know my father?" I asked putting emphasis on the word 'know'.
She sighed. "How much has your father told you?"
"Nothing. He's had plenty of opportunities, but he hasn't said anything yet."
"Well, I'm sorry Rikku, I really am, bit it's not my place to say."
"Layla please." I pleaded desperately.
"I'm sorry Rikku, but that's my final answer. Your father will tell you when he's ready."
I just nodded my head.
"Layla, you said you were looking for us?" Gippal asked.
"I think I know who might be doing this." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I think it might be my son, Dravidian." She replied stoically.
"Layla, I don't think you know this, but Dravidian is in the hospital. He is hurt pretty badly, and you know that a bombing happened at Bevelle, it couldn't have been him." Gippal replied.
"You don't know my son. He has his ways. He has connections, as much as I hate to admit it, my son over the last few years has made alliances with some people." She said.
"Do you know who these people are, or have any concrete proof?" Gippal asked.
"Unfortunately no. The only other thing I can provide is a mother's instinct." She said looking at me with her piercing blue eyes, as if she knew I was pregnant. I idly wondered how her eyes can be so piercing and yet her features remained so soft.
I shifted slightly under her gaze.
"Alright, well you've given us something to think about, but I just have one more question. Does Dravidian know how to make bombs?" Gippal asked.
"Yes." She said, looking at Gippal directly in his eyes, her gaze unwavering.
"Thank you Layla. You've been a great help, but we really must be going now." Gippal responded, standing up and offering me his hand.
I took it, as he helped me up and out of my chair.
"Please just think over what I said." Layla said, standing up and walking us to the door.
When we walked outside, I changed into my trainer dress sphere, making sure not summon my pet monkey, Ghiki, so I wouldn't get to wet.
"Alright, well lets get going." I said.
It took us about 10 -15 minutes to get through the Thunder Plains, with the lightning striking the towers every so often. Secretly I was still slightly afraid of lightning, but didn't let it show.
We got to Guadosalam and I quickly changed back into my thief outfit, I wasn't one for wearing long skirts for too long. We didn't stay too long as we quickly exited Guadosalam into the bright sunlight. It took us a few minutes for our eyes to adjust. We started walking toward the bank of the Moonflow.
"So I was right. My father does know more than he's letting on. He does know Layla some other way." I said.
"Yea, but I think there's something a little off about her. I mean what mother could say that about their child, and with such conviction." Gippal replied.
"There's more to this story than we know. Don't judge people just yet." I answered him.
"I know but something about this whole thing feels weird."
"True, but I think Dravidian has more to do with this."
"I'm not so sure about that, I mean, why would he attack himself?" Gippal asked.
"To throw us off his trail maybe." I replied.
"I don't know, I mean I understand you logic, but he almost killed himself."
"But it doesn't fit the attack pattern, maybe he finally slipped up."
"What if the attacker is now going after the Al Bhed also."
"I don't know. I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens, along with finding more evidence." I replied as we reached the south bank of the Moonflow.
We got on the Shoopuf, each of us silent with our thoughts, trying to digest all that happened.
The Shoopuf came to the North Bank and we got off. We walked the short distance to the intersection of Djose and Mushroom Rock Road.
Both of us stopped at the same time, when we got to the temple. We were both lost in our own thoughts. The temple was so quiet, save for the lightning and rocks still miraculously moving around the temple.
"Well shall we go in?" Gippal asked in a subdued voice.
"Uh-huh." I answered quietly.
We walked up the temple entrance, and puled open the doors. I covered my nose and mouth with my scarf, so I wouldn't inhale any of the harmful dust that may still be lingering in the air.
Every single thing was covered in a thick layer of dust. The floor had footprints in the dust from the rescue team that came through to clear away the bodies.
We walked around the silent chamber looking for any hint of a bomb fragment or anything else that would be helpful in out investigation.
For twenty minutes we scoured every inch of the foyer and anti-chambers and found nothing, absolutely nothing, not a single trace of anything useful. It looked like an investigation team, had been here as well, clearing away all of the evidence.
We decided to check out the cloister of trials. When we got to the door, we found to our dismay that it would not open.
Gippal kicked the door in frustration. "Damn it." He shouted.
"Gippal." I said placing my hand on his shoulder.
"I know. It's just . . . it's hard to se all of my hard work destroyed. I put everything I had into to Faction. This was my way to contribute to the growing peace of Spira. I had hoped that the faction would bring people together, and it did. But now, now it's been destroyed, all the people and the machina, and most of the tools we used to build them are gone." He responded sadly.
"Trust me Gippal, I know how you feel. I felt the exact same way when I had to watch the destruction of Home. Home was my life. It was every Al Bhed's life. My life felt like it was shattered, ya know? Every Al Bhed put their heart and soul into making Home Better. Home and machina are an Al Bhed's life, their 'baby' if you will. So to you, losing the Faction was like losing your 'baby'." I said unconsciously touching a hand to my stomach.
"You're right. It was, but not in the literal sense. If I was to lose you or our baby my life would have no meaning, and I wouldn't have the will to live." He said kissing me. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.
I hugged him back, listening to his heart beat.
"I love you Gippal."
"I love you too."
"All right, well let's figure out how to get this door open." I said pulling back slightly after a few minutes. "Is there a control panel or a circuit breaker that we could work with?"
"Not that I know of. We never found one, we figured that the lights were connected to the lightning and rocks moving around the outside of the temple."
"Well, I'm guessing that there probably is one since the lightning and rocks are still moving." I stated. I started taping on the wall near the door. Nothing. I turned around and started scanning the temple and my eyes stopped on the four pillars right at the landing. I meticulously scanned the poles, and right near the bottom of the bottom left on was a small red button.
"There." I said, pointing it out to Gippal.
He let a whistle escape his lips. "Wow, how the hell did we miss that?"
"Well it's so small that it's hard to see, and easy to over look." I said
"The only question now is can we fix it."
"Well once we get the right equipment and I try to fix it, I'll let you know."
"Wait, so you can fix it." Rikku, you're pregnant, you shouldn't be working with machines. What if you get shocked, it could harm you and the baby." He replied.
"Gippal, I'll be fine. I can do it."
He crossed his arms and stared me in the eye.
"No."
"Gippal."
"Rikku, I said no. I've been lenient so far, but this is where I draw the line. You're two months pregnant, and you have to realize that there are certain things you can no longer do while you're pregnant, and working with machina is one of them."
I had crossed my arms and stared back at him. After a few minutes I sighed in defeat and dropped my arms to my sides.
"You're right." I said dropping my head and looking at the ground ashamed at how reckless I was being. I now had another life to worry about, and was neglecting that.
"Rikku, it's ok. You haven't done anything wrong. No damage has been done." He said, placing his hands on my shoulders.
I felt as if I was about to cry.
"But Gippal, I . . . I've been endangering our child. What kind of mother am I?" I said, starting to doubt my ability to take care of my own child and I'm only two months' pregnant.
"Rikku, look at me. It's alright. Just from now on I'll handle this kind of situation. Ok?" He said, trying to reassure me.
"Alright then. Let's go get the supplies." Gippal said to me, walking down the steps and walking to the right anti-chamber
"Gippal opened a hidden door in the back wall of the chamber. Inside were some tools and supplies and a ladder.
"These should be enough to fix it." Gippal said as he handed me some of the tools inside, along with some extra wires.
When we got to the pole and set the supplies down next to Gippal as he pushed the little red button and a panel slid out of the way revealing the wiring inside.
"Can you tell what's wrong with it?" I asked after a couple of minutes.
"Yea, it looks like a few of the important wires shorted out during the bombing and those were the ones that gave power to the building.
"Can you fix it?"
"We'll see." He said picking up one of the screwdrivers. "Hey Rikku can you pass me some of the extra wires I brought out?"
"Sure." I said handing him the tools and wires he needed.
"Thank you." He said giving me a quick kiss.
Fixing that piece of machina, Gippal looked like a kid in a candy shop. He was so happy to be working with machina, even if it just for a little while.
"All done." He said a few minutes later.
"Now let's see if that door opens." I responded
Walking up those steps to the door, I couldn't help but hope that the door opens. This could be our only hope in finding out who did this. That and it would make Gippal happy to know that he successfully fixed it.
We tentatively walked up to the door, and to our relief it opened. But with the door opening, the dust that had not yet settled came flying out and covered the foyer of the temple in another layer of dust. I quickly covered my nose and mouth with my scarf, while Gippal covered his mouth with his shirt.
When the dust settled, we found what we were looking for. There was evidence of the explosion everywhere, bomb fragments and shrapnel covered the floor of the corridor.
"Well think we have enough evidence." I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yea, I think we have enough." He answered.
We carefully examined the fragments and found most of the to be fragments from the machina the Faction workers were working on.
There were only a few select pieces of the bombs that were big enough to use for evidence.
We continued further into the cloister until we got to the chamber of the fayth. It seemed as if all the workers were in the foyer of the temple, so there were no bodies left behind the door.
Amazingly the chamber looked relatively undamaged, well save for the giant hole on the ground, compliments of Vegnagun.
"Well, it looks like we got all of the evidence that we're going to find. Let's go to the storage room." Gippal said.
"Sure. But where is it?" I asked
Gippal smirked. "Follow me."
We walked out of the chamber and into the side room with all of the pedestals. He pushed the second, the middle and the second to last one in and I heard a door slide open somewhere. Then wordlessly he exited the room, and stopped right next to te staircase leading to the chamber we just exited. Next to the staircase there was a new opening in the wall with a staircase leading downward.
"How did you discover this?" I asked in awe.
"Well, I figured that since the pedestals opened the door to the chamber of the fayth. Then they must've hidden something else. So I just started playing around with the pedestals and found this." He answered, gesturing to the stairs.
"Cool." I said starting down the staircase with Gippal following behind me.
The pathway was illuminated by same kind of glowing orbs as the ones in the foyer on top of the little poles. It was about 20 feet deep and took about ten minutes to get to the bottom.
The storage room looked like a huge catacomb made out rock. There were seemingly endless chambers.
"What is this place?"
"The burial place for the priests."
"This is a burial place and you're using it to store bombs and stuff! Spira Gippal." I said feeling nauseous about being in a burial chamber.
"Rikku relax. The chambers are deep into the catacombs. We don't go that far." He explained
"Alright." I said trying to quelling the uneasy feeling I had about being so near so many dead bodies.
"Follow me. The storage are is this way." Gippal turned to his left towards on of the chambers.
The whole left wing was all storage. Well there wasn't mush left to store now that the storage are was completely cleaned out.
"Well we're not going to find much here. Wait a minutes. I wonder if. . ." He mumbled to himself.
"You wonder if what Gippal?
"Hmm, Follow me." replied Gippal as he exited the storage room and continued jogging down the corridor.
"Gippal! Wait up." I shouted, reluctant to run. (A/N: I'm not sure if it's ok for a woman 2 months pregnant to run.)
He stopped and when I walked up to him, he picked me up and carried me the rest of the way.
"Gippal, where are we going?" I asked him as endless hallways passed by in quick succession. I could've sworn that I saw a skull somewhere.
"I want to see if something is still intact." He replied.
"What is it?"
"You'll see."
"He finally slowed down after about five minutes. In front of us was an incline as well as a door at the end. He carried me up the incline and set me down when we got to the door.
"Well, shall we see?" Gippal asked as he opened the door.
I quickly shielded my eyes from the direct intensity of the sunlight as it flooded the hallway.
After my eyes adjusted to the sunlight I stepped outside and followed Gippal. My jaw dropped. Right there in front of us was a streamline silver-blur airship. It was small, by airship standards, but not to bad.
"Wow, Gippal. It's . . . Did you build this?" I asked
"Yea. I've been planing it out ever since I survived the crimson squad. I've been working on it, in secret, since I started the Machine Faction. I had completed it a week before you showed up. I was planing on finding you with this when I finished it, and trying to reconcile things with yo, but you beat me to it. I had this whole elaborate plan to just whisk you away. But oh well, it worked out in the end."
I smiled. "Yea it did." after a couple of seconds in a comfortable silence I said "So does it have fuel?"
"It should, so long as it still works."
"Would we, oh I don't know, be able to fly to Bikanel?" I asked innocently.
Gippal smiled. "If the Cyjeun" still works, then yes, we'll go to Bikanel."
"Savior? That's it's name. It's nice, I like it." I said, translation his Al Bhed.
"I named it after you."
I looked at him quizzically.
"You saved me while I was in the crimson squad. All I could think about was surviving so I could see you face again, and making things right. The memory of your face, your voice, you, and everything about you kept me going. Plus you are the Al Bhed's savior. You helped lessen the prejudices against us. "
"Awww Gippal." I said giving him a kiss and a hug.
"If I had known that I would've gotten that reaction, then maybe I should've told you about it sooner." He joked.
"Ha ha. Very Funny Gippal. So uh can we go to Bikanel now."
"Yes, we can, we'll go confront your father now."
"Hmm" was all I said, not at all looking forward to the confrontation because I knew that he was going to skirt around the subject as long as possible, leaving me to have to threaten him.
"Alright. Well let's see if this thing still works.
It took about thirty seconds to get to the entrance of the ship, and to our relief we found that the bridge still opened.
"So far so good." I heard Gippal mutter.
We walked across the bridge and entered the control room.
The ship looked undamaged. But looks can be deceiving. Gippal walked to the control panel and started the engine.
The engine purred to life, and Gippal gave a sigh of relief.
"Now, let's check everything else. Computer, Do a complete scan of the ship, and report any and all damages found." He said.
"Cool, you installed a voice activated system?" I asked.
"Yea, I figured that I would be to nervous to fly it considering I was going to fly to you and try to make things right." He explained Sheepishly.
"Scan complete." The computer said, breaking a potential moment.
"Report."
"No damage has been detected."
"Good. Set a course for Bikanel. A.S.A.P."
"Course set, take off commencing. Shall I set the ship on autopilot?"
"Yea, do that."
The airship took off, and I stumbled slightly, not used to the sudden motion of an airship taking off.
Even though the airship was on autopilot we still took seats at the controls just in case something had been missed during the scan, we could take over if need be.
"I really hope I don't have to threaten my father." I said. "I just want to know the truth and without having to fight him for it."
"I know Rikku, so do I, but maybe we can think of a different way to get Cid to talk if it comes to that, rather than telling him that he can't see him grandchild."
"I've been trying to think of another way, But I can't . . . I just can't." I said, while tears unexpectedly sprung into my eyes.
"Come here Rikku." Gippal said gently.
I got up and sat sideways on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.
"Everything will be ok Rikku, we'll find a way through this, together." He replied soothingly.
"I know." I said sighing.
He turned my head towards me and kissed me lightly.
Another mood swing hit me, and I felt far form sad. I brought my head closer to Gippal's and kissed him passionately, to which he eagerly responded.
When the need for air arose, we broke apart, both of us breathing heavily.
"Rikku." Was all he said as we kissed again, his tongue eagerly exploring my mouth. I slid my hands up his shirt, as I straddled his lap, and rested my hands on his chest. I could feel his heart rate speed up. His hands were gently kneading my sides as he ran his hands up and down them.
His hands started traveling lower until they rested on my thighs, as he started trailing kisses down my neck. He kept going lower and lower, until a sharp jolt from the airship caused me to fall off his lap, and him to fall off the chair, leaving me pinned under him.
"We have arrived at Bikanel." The automatic voice of the control panel said.
Gippal rested his head right above my chest and started laughing slightly. I was giggling to. I mean it was kind of funny. There we were getting all hot and heavy, and all of a sudden we're interrupted by the airship landing, which taught us a lesson. Foreplay on an airship chair; not a good idea.
Gippal eventually started pulling away to get up, but I pulled him down for another kiss.
"Come on." He said, pulling away after the kiss and helping me up. "We should go interrogate your father now."
"Awww but Gippal. Come on." I practically purred, "He's not expecting us, so we can be late. What's another hour or so?" I whispered in his ear, pressing my body closer to his.
"How about later tonight?"
"Ohhh but I've never done it on an airship before." I said coyly, surprised by my audacity. Where in Spira was this coming from?
"Oh? And where have you done it?" He asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Only on the bed with, with you. That was my first time." Now I knew it. It was my hormones. I never would've easily admitted that to anyone, or at least I would joke around and never say straight out. Mood swings. Hmmm. Not all bad I suppose.
"I hope this mod swing lasts the duration of your pregnancy." He muttered.
"Exactly. What if it doesn't last. What if I'm not in the mood tonight Gippal? I feel as if a fire is running through my veins." I said.
"Alright. How about this." He said starting to kiss me again.
"That sounds good." I replied, returning his kisses.
"But no further. We'll do that later tonight."
"Deal." I said, wrapping my hands around his neck..
He backed me up until I was against the wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist so he was supporting my weight. Though doing this caused my chest to brush against his. He looked down and grinned up at me. I grinned and slipped my hands under his shirt.
"Rikku." He said.
"Relax. I just want to see your perfectly sculpted body." I replied, slipping off his shirt.
I pulled him closer to me again and wrapped my arms around his neck as I kissed him again, slipping my tongue into his mouth, causing him to tighten his arms around my waist.
We broke the kiss as he started trailing kisses down my neck to my collar bone.
All of a sudden we heard a loud banging on the landing door.
"This is the Home Security Force, and we order you to exit the airship in the name of our leader Cid." The people who knocked shouted.
Gippal set me on my feet as he retrieved his shirt.
I started laughing.
"Rikku? What's so funny?" Gippal asked confused.
"It's simple. They are ordering us to exit, 'in the name of our leader Cid', who just happens to be my father. I'm laughing because I', imagining their faces when they learn who they just ordered out of the ship.
He started smiling too.
The guards knocked again.
"We won't say it again. Exit you're airship."
We walked to the landing and opened it. I walked down to the end, with Gippal at my side.
"And just who do you think you are?" I asked in an annoyed tone.
"P. . . P. . .Princess Rikku, Sir Gippal. Please forgive us. We didn't know." They said, dropping to one knee, and bowing their heads.
"Next time find out who is in the ship, before you start ordering them out of their air crafts." I said with my hands on my hips.
"We are truly sorry Princess Rikku. Please, allow us to escort you both to Home." The chief guard said.
"Ver well." I answered in a bored tone.
The six guards surrounded us and walked us to Home.
"May we assist you in any other way?" The chief asked as we got there.
"No, that will be all. You may go." I replied
They bowed, and walked off to go back to their posts to keep watch.
We pressed the access panel to the door and stated out names and out titles to the security system se we could enter.
My father was in his office which was in a private wing towards the back of the building, right where it used to be in the old Home.
The closer we got to my father's office, the more nervous I became. I kept playing with my hair.
Gippal placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.
"Rikku, everything's going to be ok. It's just your father we're talking to. He's not going to do anything overly drastic."
I snorted. "Then you don't know my father."
"Ok so maybe he would, but not to you. You're his little princess. You're Cid's girl."
I just gave him a death glare, as he backed up a little. "You're right." I said, taking a deep breath and composing myself.
"Besides, you're also my girl, and I won't let anything happen to you."
I smiled at him.
Before we knew it we were at my father's office. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer.
"Come it." He replied.
I opened the door and Gippal and I walked in.
"Remmo Vydran." (Hello father)
"Remmo Rikku, Gippal." (Hello Rikku, Gippal)
"We need to talk Vydran."
"Sure. About what?" He asked.
"You, Dravidian, and Layla."
His faced paled considerably.
"W. . . What do you mean?" He tried to ask innocently.
"How do you know them?"
"I already told you. They used to live at the old Home."
"That's not all and you know it. Do you really think that now's the time to keep secrets? Vydran, what you know could help the investigation. We need to know everything."
He sighed. "You're right." He paused for a minute as if contemplating what to say first.
"When I was seventeen my friends dared me to go to the coast of the island ad back, and of course it was on a day where there was a huge sandstorm, making it extremely dangerous. So of course I agreed. I was supposed to bring back a rare shell, one that is only found at the coast to prove I really went to the coast. It took me four hours to get to the coast, but I made it. I was exhausted. I had, had a very difficult time getting through that sandstorm. I sat down at the beach for a while to catch my breath. I looked out at the sea, and saw something out there. It looked like a person.
"I swan out, and I was right. It was a woman, and she was unconscious, clinging onto a piece of wood. I grabbed hold of her and swam back to the shore.
"When I was younger your grandparents made me take a CPR class. I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't she would've died.
"When she regained consciousness I asked her, her name. It was Layla. She was confused and disoriented. She asked where she was and I told her. I brought her back with me to Home so I could get her the medical attention she needed.
"The storm had all but died down making the passage back to Home easier. We got back and my buddies helped me get her back inside and we brought her to my room while someone summoned the doctor. He examined her and told us that the only thing she needed was rest and relaxation to gain back her strength. She was very lucky. The waters around Bikanel aren't the best.
"After a few weeks past she was able to eat more food then before. She gradually began to regain her strength.
"My birthday was the day after she was given a clean bill of health. All of Home threw me a party. That's what we did back then. We always threw a party for whoever's birthday it was. Everyone was invited. Even Layla.
" Layla and I had formed a really good friendship, and became fast friends. Some people weren't happy about that, and me being the leaders son, didn't interfere. That is, until that night.
That was the night I met your mother. I was quite taken by her. Everything about her attracted me. Her blonde hair that was a few shades lighter then everyone else's, and how it fell to te middle of her back, her almond shaped green eyes. She was gorgeous, and you got all of her best traits." He said to me.
I smiled. I loved hearing the I look like my mom.
"Anyway, your mother had to leave early, she was taking a trip to the main lands, I forgot why, but she wanted to make sure she got enough sleep. I had asked her if she wanted to hang out when she got back. She said she would love to. I kissed her cheek goodnight and she left.
"That's when people decided to interfere. Now I'm not the best person when I'm drunk and apparently neither is Layla. Those people, I never found out who, added a really strong Al Bhed alcohol to our dinks. So we would get really drunk. It worked. Before long we were drunk off our ass's.
"One thing lead to another and we ended up sleeping together. When we woke up and realized what we had done, our faces flushed a deep crimson red with embarrassment. It was both our faults, but I felt the need to apologize profusely, and I did. She did the same thing. We got dressed with our backs facing each other. There was an awkward silence.
"I decided to leave first, and then she would leave a few minutes later. As soon as o left I marched straight down to your grandfathers office. He was kinda like our ruler at the time, and I told what had happened. He said he would straighten everything out. and he did. Even though I never found out who did it, my father did, and he exiled them.
"Every time I saw Layla we blushed and looked away. Eventually it became to much for her and she arranged for a boat to take her back to the main lands of Spira. Ii would be awhile until I saw her again.
"When your mother returned I told her what happened. I was expecting her to hate me and want nothing to do with me, but I was wrong. She accepted what happened as an accident. From that day on we were an item. We quickly fell in love and were engaged in three months.
"Then two weeks after our engagement Layla returned to Home." He said
All of a sudden I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Your mother had never met Layla, and when Layla came back your mother was at the Oasis with her friends.
"When Layla arrived she went straight to my fathers office because he was the only other person besides me she knew she could trust. She would've come to me, except she didn't know where I was. So your grandfather summoned me to his office.
"I was glad to see Layla again. I mean after all she was one of my friends even if we had an embarrassing situation. She seemed distracted though. So I asked her what was wrong.
"She was silent for a few minutes. Then she told me. She was pregnant, and I was the father. That child was Dravidian, your brother."
A/N: so how did you like it? Yes I know evil cliff hanger sorry. I couldn't help my self. I'm sorry for the long wia.t I've ben busy with work and other stuff, that and a touch of laziness. Sorry. I have the rest of the story outlined and have determined that it will be either 19 or 20 chapters long. So bear with me I will update whenever I can.