Disclaimer: same same!

Author's Note: This is my Holiday Gift to you!

The Big Finale!

"No!" he cried as he turned back to the door nearly knocking it down as he pushed through it, and abusing his privileges of director of construction and using his master key to get into her place. When he stepped inside the entire place had been torn apart, and when he walked into her bedroom entire drawers had been pulled out of the dresser. There on the floor were old photographs that even he hadn't seen in a long time, the very rare occasions they had been alone together long enough.

Something inside him snapped as he ran to the only place he could think of, the hangar. Maybe someone could tell him where she went. No one had to be told to move out of the way, they could hear his anger in his footsteps, and he was rushing around like his boots were made of solid iron.

Rikku sat inside the small merchant vessel as she watched her things being loaded into the underbelly of the ship. She tapped her feet anxiously as she watched the hatch shut, How long is this going to take!? Her mind was barking.

"Ready to shove off?" the friendly merchant poked his head into the passenger bay as he headed towards the cockpit, "I'm taking you as far as Bevelle right?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm staying with my cousin for awhile, now can we please just get moving?!" she glared.

Without another word of argument he stepped into the cockpit and fired up the engine. Rikku closed her eyes as relief washed over her; she was going to make it out. The vessel was old and the engine took awhile to warm up, but freedom was just inches away. She listened as the merchant radioed to the hangar floor to release his landing gear locks, which meant that they were moments away from take off.

Gippal marched into the hangar as he heard an airship engine fire up, quickly dashing over to the command board.

"Who is on that airship!?" he yelled above the roar of the noise.

"It's just a merchant, taking off to peddle his wares, why?!" Gippal could hear the mumble of the headset, "Alright, releasing landing locks," the man at the command center replied as he released the lever.

Rikku took one last look at the hangar as she leaned over from where she was sitting, and it was all it took for Gippal to catch a glimpse of her golden hair.

Gippal threw the lever back into the lock position as he snatched the headset from the man at the board.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" the man barked.

"Shut up, and get the hell away from my command board!" Gippal pushed the man easily aside before approaching the bay. The merchant was already cussing into Gippal's headset before he had left the command board, and had already dropped the hatch and was cussing at him within earshot.

"And just what the fuck do you think you're trying to do, scuttle my ship!? Do you know what damage you might have just caused!?"

Gippal simply grabbed him by the collar and shoved him aside as he marched up inside the small rig.

Rikku had already jumped out of her seat to ask what was up, when she met Gippal's form blocking her only entry and exit. He didn't say anything to her, but simply wrapped his arm around her waist and scooped her up like a small child by throwing her over his shoulder.

"Gippal! You better put me down this instant! I swear to Yevon that I will kill you, and then go all the way to the farplane to kill you again!" she kicked and screamed.

"Unload her things from storage hatch and then you can leave," he glared at the merchant as he shoved the headset back at the man who had them before he yanked them off his head.

"You are not the boss of me! Put me down!" she yelled some more, but he continued to ignore her. Gippal glared at everyone giving him an alarmed stare as Rikku screamed all the way through Home while leaving Gippal with a few bruises he wouldn't feel till tomorrow morning, right now he didn't feel anything.

They made it back to his apartment which had been left unlocked in his haste to leave where he finally chucked her down onto the couch, her voice was slightly hoarse and she had finally stopped screaming. Rikku looked and felt like a small child who just got caught red handed with her hand in the cookie jar.

Gippal took the crumpled up note in his pocket and threw it at her, "What the fuck is this?" she didn't respond, just looked away. "What the fuck is it Rikku!?"

"A note…" she finally managed to squeak out.

"No shit it's a note! You want to explain some things to me?!" he barked. He seemed so much bigger now that he was angry; this unbridled rage was something she had never seen in him before.

"I just thought that it'd be for the best…" she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"You thought what would be for the best?" he was going to make her say it all before he was done yelling.

"I thought it would be better if I just left! I thought I'd stop hurting you if I just wasn't around!" she tucked her knees up to her chest.

"When are you going to get it through that blonde head of yours!" he yanked her up from the couch and against his chest, "I don't want you anywhere except around! You're always going on about how I can't say it, but you can't either!" She finally stared up into his eyes, "I broke several air traffic rules to come here to finally say it and I find you running away… You know how much it took for me to do that after what happened!?" She never thought she'd see him so angry, and so vulnerable.

"Gippal… I--" she tried to open her mouth.

"Shut up!" he spat, "I'm not finished! You're the one I want to wake up next to every morning, argue with every day, and make love to every night!" he tightened his grip around her waist, "and I'll be damned if I let you go again." He didn't wait for a response as he took her face into his hands and pressed his lips onto hers. She quickly yielded to his touch as he started pushing her back towards his bedroom.

"Don't I get a say in this?" she mumbled between deep mouth kisses.

"Only if you're telling me you want to be on top," he quickly cut her off again before hoisting her legs up around his waist and closing the door behind them.

By the time the two of them hit the sheets Gippal had lost his shirt along with his eye patch in the tussle, and Rikku's top was also somewhere lost among the rest of Gippal's dirty laundry.

"Wait…" he stopped her wandering hands before taking them in his, "I want to hear you say it first," he stared down at her, her face glowing in the moonlight.

"I want to deal with hogging the blankets every morning, your bad attitude every day, and you misogynist nature every night," she smiled before he kissed her again.

"That's what I thought," he mumbled against her lips.

He made quick work of her bra, carelessly tossing it aside while she fumbled with the steel buckle of his belt. Once the offensive piece of leather was removed she unbuttoned his pants and didn't even bother with the rest before reaching her hand into their depths. Gippal groaned, forgetting how good her small tiny fingers felt, and how quickly they always went to teasing work. Rikku smirked as he moaned against her mouth, after all these years his body still responded the same way as she traced her fingers along the hard flesh.

"Not so fast," he growled as he pulled away from her lips and seizing her wrist, "I've got a lot of pent up sexual frustration and I won't have you having your way until I've had mine," he stared down at her before bending down to take a long tentative lick of her nipple. "Delicious," her murmured earning a shiver from her, "just as delicious as I remember," he smiled closing his eyes remembering far off memories.

"I don't think now is the time to reminisce in thought, I'd much prefer you reminisce in touch," she sighed. He smirked before continuing to kiss down the planes of her body, every inch of her arching to meet his hungry mouth. He nearly tore her pants from her body leaving her clad only in her panties. He relished the feeling of her skin beneath his fingertips and took his time teasing the edges of the last piece of cloth with his lips.

Rikku enjoyed this feeling, Gippal may have been brash by nature but he always took his time enjoying the things he deemed decadent. But as much as he enjoyed touching her, she wanted to touch him too. She sat up onto her knees pulling him with her, before running her fingertips over the sharp cut planes of his chest, over the scars.

"Enjoying the improvements?" he smirked, the last time they were like this they were so much younger, and he was so much thinner.

"Well…" she drawled teasing him with her silence, not giving him the praise he so wanted to here, "it's alright," she teased as she looked up at him.

"What was that?" he said as he too ran his fingers over her body, taking the opportunity to flick his thumb over her hard nipple.

She took a deep breath in, "yeah," she sighed opening her eyes, "I am enjoying them." They were the last words she spoke before lowering her lips to his flesh, kissing and lick at his shoulders and neck while her hands ran over the rest of him before hooking her fingers inside his beltline. His head rolled back as he sighed, loving the rough feeling of her small tongue on his flesh as he rolled her nipples between his fingers between cupping her breasts roughly. She scratched her fingernails lightly where they laid before unbuttoning his pants before she slid them off his hips with his snug fitted underwear.

"Well that's not too fair now is it?" he let out a small chuckle as he felt the cool air of his apartment against his now exposed erection. He reached down to make quick work of her panties but his hands were quickly slapped away. "Must you always be in control?" he shot her a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," she smiled up at him, taking his hand and kissing his fingertips. He reached for the tie that kept her hair back, snapping it easily, and yanking the bandana off her head, letting the blonde hair fall down around her shoulders, some covering her breasts. He ran his fingers through the soft strands from root to ends. He leaned down and kissed along her jaw line.

"I've missed this," he whispered in her ear before kissing below her ear and down her neck, pulling her flush against him, so her warm breasts were pressed against his chest. He took her down onto the sheets, kicking what was left of his pants off and taking the liberty of removing the last of her garments as well.

"I swear to Spira, if you ever leave me again…" he started before Rikku silenced him with her lips.

"I won't break my promise ever again." She pulled him down to her roughly, seeking his mouth with hers, parting her lips for his tongue.

He nestled himself between her thighs as he grasped her hips before penetrating her flesh with his as he let out a gasp that easily covered Rikku's cries. It had been so long, so long since he felt her like this, every inch of her warmth enveloping him like it belonged there. She fisted her hands into his hair as he nipped at the flesh of her neck and shoulders as he drove himself into her in a sporadic rhythm; he barely had enough self-control to keep himself together let alone to keep a steady pace. Rikku's moans of pleasure weren't helping, only driving him closer and closer to the edge of oblivion.

She arched her back, pressing herself against him, rocking her hips against him. Rikku understood all too well how this felt, it was like they were young teenagers again as their bodies remembered what it was like to be with each other, to move with each other.

He kept thrusting deeper and deeper as Rikku's body suddenly stiffened and as his name left her lips in a small whisper before her voice suddenly became unable to escape her throat. He stared at her in rapture, still moving, her hair sprawled out across the pillows, her eyes squeezed shut, arching and her mouth gaping. He had been so close this whole time and the moment he felt her walls clenching his flesh he watched for her lips to relax as he capture them in one last kissing, driving his lustful growl into the recesses of her throat. He shuddered as she pulled him down to her; stroking her hands down his neck and back as the spasms ceased.

He left her body and settled next to her on his back with his eyes closed and panting. She twined her fingers in his as she panted to match him. He looked over and saw her chest rising and falling as she stared back at him. Rikku rolled onto her side and began to trace his facial features.

"You know I've always hated that eye patch," she smiled, "your eyes were always so beautiful."

"I always thought you thought it was rugged and manly."

"I always said that because I knew how the scars made you feel."

"Well then I won't wear it anymore," he rolled over kissing her deeply before pulling away and getting out of bed.

"And just wear are you going?" she asked as he began throwing clothes around. He didn't say anything as he dug in the pocket of his pants before crawling back into bed.

"One last thing," he smiled.

"What's that?" she asked. Gippal dangled the necklace above her, dragging the cool stone between her bare breasts.

"So Cid's Girl," he smiled, "You going to be my girl?"

Rikku smiled, "Yeah, I can be your girl." She rolled over and brushed her hair away as Gippal fastened the stone around her neck, and kissing the base of her neck where the closure sat.

"I'll never let you go again," he breathed as he rolled onto his back taking her with him where she rested her head on his chest.

"I'll hold you to that promise," she kissed him one last time, before she drifted off listening to the steady sound of his breathing. Gippal watched her awhile before soon falling asleep to the sight of her peaceful face.

~Fin~

Author's Note 2: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, I hope to begin new fanfictions soon 3