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Disclaimer: I dun own FFX-2, FFX, FFIX, FFVIII... Come to think of it, there is a lot of shit that I don't own.

Damn.

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Thankies to reviewers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And there hasn't been a lot of Rikku/Gippal fluff yet - I'll get around to that eventually. And about the Rikku and Yuna reunited part... v.v yeah, I could have done better there . I think that I may have rushed through that part, and actually I'd like to redo just that part of the chapter. Don't know if I'll actually get around to it, though ..

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Chapter Seven - A Friend Forgotten

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Rikku stomped her foot, the noise echoing against the tile floor. The blonde had woken up - early, I might add - gotten out of bed, and headed to the kitchen. And she wouldn't have guessed what she was going to see: dishes. Dirty dishes. Again.

"Fryd? I thought I cleaned these last night!" She shook her head, face flushing from anger. 'No one has eaten yet, so how did these get here? Unless... Someone has been dirtying the dishes - on purpose - just to tick me off! I wonder who that could be?'

Needless to say, Rikku had a pretty good idea of who had been doing it.

"That's it. Machina fixin' time."

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Two Hours Later

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"Need a little help, Cid's girl?" Gippal had stopped by the kitchen - again - leaving Rikku perplexed and suspicious. What was he, anyway? Her personal stalker? Rikku shivered at the thought. Yeah, right. He was probably just waiting for her to do something wrong so he could tease her again.

"No, I don't," Came Rikku's reply after a moment. "I was just getting back to do a little tinkering with that thing you call a dish washer,"

"You mean you're not done fixing it yet?" He asked incredulously and smirked. "It's been two hours!"

"Yeah, no duh, I can tell time," Rikku sneered back at him, causing Gippal to look at her awkwardly. What? She hadn't changed that much. Had she..? "I guess I haven't had much practice. But you really screwed it up, I haven't lost all of my skills; there's just a lot of damage. "

"Whoa, whoa. Did you just say I screwed it up?" He stared at her innocently. "What makes you think I'd do something like that?"

Rikku just snorted.

"Hey, you sure you aren't up for a break? I was just about to have one myself," Gippal offered.

Rikku raised an eyebrow. Was Gippal being nice to her? Well, that didn't mean she had to be nice back! Not after what happened last night, anyway.

"If you insist," she said indifferently.

The two exited the kitchen, Rikku meekly following Gippal through the corridors of Djose Temple. He lead them out through the back of the temple to what looked like the 'backyard'. Strangely, it was devoid of any machina. In fact... It had a garden! 'I wonder who takes care of that! It certainly wouldn't be Gippal. ..Right? Ugh, now I've got that stuck in my head-' Silence encompassed the garden while Rikku was left picturing Gippal down in the garden, watering the flowers and muttering how pretty they were.

"So, Rikku. . ."

"Huh?" Rikku snapped back to reality.

"How have you been?"

She paused. How had she been? Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember. She couldn't remember anything. Well, not anything important. She remembered walking into the woods so long ago... Then everything went blank. Rikku faintly remembered the trees, shadowy figures, a whispering voice inside of her head. Then, there in the woods, the most amazing thing had happened. All her worries and fears, her hopes and dreams, her wavering emotions - they vanished. Just disappeared, leaving her with this empty feeling of nothingness. And the strange thing was, that was okay with her. Rikku hadn't missed the sense of feeling, the sense of beng happy or depressed.

"Rikku?"

"Huh?" Her face flushed. "Oh, sorry Gippal. I was just thinking. I've been okay."

"What were you thinking, Cid's girl?"

Rikku stared at him. "None of your business!" Gippal didn't smile or mess up her hair or anything, he just turned away. Huh. 'I guess he wasn't playing around. He really did want to know? '

"I was thinking about the Woods," she murmured.

Gippal's eyes narrowed. "You're going to go back there, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Rikku looked confused.

"After your done here, you're going to head off back to your little dream land. With your friends. Aren't you?"

"...Yes. Yeah, I am."

Gippal snorted at her and walked a little ways away. "..Figures. You're not the Rikku I remember. The Rikku I knew would have never left in the first place. She actually cared about her family, about her friends."

"Crid ib, Gippal! Oui tuh'd ghuf yhodrehk!" Rikku screamed at him. Apparently he had struck a nerve.

There was silence. Then, Gippal's portable CommSphere rang. Thankful for having a reason not to answer her, he gratefully answered it.

"Hey," Gippal answered it.

"Hey... Geppil, right?" It was that guy, Yuna's boyfriend, messy blonde hair, tan skin, bright blue eyes - the whole she-bang.

"Uh, it's Gippal."

"Oh, sorry.. I was wondering, Rikku doesn't have a CommSphere and I need to talk to her. Is she around?"

"You're not going to call me whenever you want to speak with her, are you?" Gippal sounded annoyed.

"Uh, yeah. At least until she breaks down and gets one. How else am I gonna get a hold of her?"

Gippal made a mental note to make sure Rikku got one as soon as possible. "Rikku?" He handed over the sphere to her.

"Hi, Tidus," She plastered on a huge fake smile over her features.

"Hey, how you been, Ri?"

"Great! And you?"

He looked a little bothered. "Well, lonely, I guess. I tried to get a hold of Yuna a few times, but apparently something's wrong with her CommSphere. Speaking of which, how has Yuna been?"

Rikku froze. "Uh, umm, Y-yuna?"

"Yeah. Yuna," Tidus looked confused. "She left with you guys to Djose Temple. Remember? She wanted to visit with you for a little while." The blonde raised an eyebrow, looking a little ticked off. "She was supposed to be back over a week ago."

"Cred."

Tidus was speechless.

"Uh, I don't... I mean... Ohhh, man. I've really gotta go. I'll talk to you late-" Rikku stuttered out.

"Where's Yuna?" Tidus cut her off, his face serious.

Uh, well, that's the funny thing. You see, uh... She never... She's not here! Yuna never was. We must have lost her on our way... But that's really unlike Yuna, she doesn't just get lost..."

"And you didn't even notice that she was gone?"

It was Rikku's turn to be left speechless. When she failed to reply, Tidus hung up on her. "Cred, cred, cred..."

"..Rikku." Her head shot up and she faced Gippal, who she forgot was there.

"You're not the only one who completely spaced. I've had other things on my mind." Gippal guiltily looked up at her. 'Yeah, like Leije, and Rikku, and did I mention Leije?' he thought. Rikku didn't answer him right away, she just looked horrified and guilty and worried beyond all reason.

"I..."

How could she have forgotten about Yuna? Her cousin? And for nearly two weeks? Something like that doesn't just slip your mind! She was with them on the way, but never entered the temple... Something must have made them forget she was coming with them to begin with. Rikku only knew of a few people who could do that to someone. Like they had done to her when she first entered the Woods so long ago. She hadn't even thought of her family, of her friends - not once! It was like... everything around her, the air, the sound, the pure escence of the Woods themselves had washed away every other thought that had once clouded her mind. No longer could she remember the sound of Yuna's voice, the destruction of Home, the fading of Auron, the disappearance and miraculous return of Tidus. Those memories had vanished.

'You need to forget,' they told her. 'If you do not, you will yearn to venture out from the Woods. And then you will die.

Remember to forget, Rikku. These Woods are not all powerful,'

Rikku blinked back tears, remembering those fateful words. That fateful day. It was the day that she had come to understand that the Woods had created her, and as she had once said before, could easily relinquish that gift. She had exactly twenty-three years outside of the Woods, no more, no less. Her time could be divided, of course. It had been a little short notice: she had almost been eighteen the day she found out. She only had eight years left outside of the Woods. Eight! And then she was a goner.

And those idiots wondered why she was no longer her spunky self. It was a nice thought, but it was hard for her to go from cynical and pesstimistic right back to ever-cheerful. She wasn't as strong as Yuna. She knew that. Oh, she knew. Yuna had been willing to give her life to defeat Sin. There was no hope of survival for her. And she had a choice. But Rikku didn't have a choice, and she was still afraid.

"Rikku? You there?" Gippal waved a hand in front of her face. Aparrently she had zoned out while staring at him.

"Just leave me alone," She turned her back to him and started walking away.

Gippal reached for her and grabbed her shoulder. "I'd do that, but I don't think Yuna would appreciate it. She's probably out there waiting for us."

Rikku stopped. "Let's go then. Now."

"Erm..." Gippal looked at her like she was on crack. "Go where? We don't know where she got lost,"

"Macalania Woods," Rikku answered, calmly enough. Her voice had a certainty to it that even Gippal couldn't deny. She knew exactly where Yuna was.

"How... Rikku, we didn't travel through that area,"

"She's there. I know it." The girl was determined. "I'm going; you can come, but I'm leaving regardless of if you follow me,"

Gippal just grinned at her. "You can't leave unless I come with you anyway,"

"Actually, she can't leave unless I go with her,"

Rikku and Gippal jumped, unconciously reaching for their weapons. They both stopped short when they realised it was only Leije. (Well, at least Rikku stopped). Gippal was a little suspicious; how long had he been listening to them, anyway? Who did he think he was?

"I'm her supervisor, after all," Leije added after a moment. Rikku grinned. "Right, right." Her grin faded a bit when she remembered their job. "Well, let's get going, Leije. Gippal, are you coming? Or do you have the Machine Faction to take care of?"

"Of course I'm coming!" Gippal snarled and looked at her, disbelieving. "What made you think otherwise?" He actually had been having his doubts, but now that Leije was going...

Rikku just shrugged, and walked back into Djose Temple.

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As for Rikku's 23 years of life outside of Macalania left...Well, las mathimaticas, mi amigos. -twitches- v.-

Rikku Adopted by her parents at roughly 3, went back to macalania at roughly 18

18 - 3 15 (C'mon, you know this!)

23 - 1 8 (Wheee! I feel so mathematically smart. o.o)