A/N: Oh. My. God. Can I STOP writing about these two? NO. I CAN'T. I hope this to be the best Rikku and Gippal story I've written yet! I hope to gather many obsessed readers with this little bit of literature. You children must become of one me. Cackle.

Disclaimer: Nothing is miiiiiiiine in this chapter NOR the following.

PS: If you review, I'll answer! New policy.

Note: Bold means translation into English from Al Bhed. Italics means thoughts.

It Started in the Sand

Chapter 1

It all started in the sand.

Towers of metal were being constructed, pits hundreds of feet deep being dug for strong rebar to be placed to hold up the future city. Miniscule air ships loaded with metal and other building materials landed with a whirr on the makeshift landing pad, while the rest of the people continued to hammer and saw, nail and fit together.

It was the rebuilding of Home.

The sun gazed down on the milling Al Bheds, its rays burning their flesh. And yet, they continued to work, even as the sweat dripped off of them like rain, and their limbs ached as if they were about to fall off. Even the whirling sand, thrown about by a humid wind, didn't stop the race. No, they continued to build on, going as fast as they could to start over once more.

Just like they had every time Home was discovered, and every time they were attacked and destroyed, forced to move again to stay in secret from the Spiran government, who clearly wanted to wipe out the Al Bhed race.

Many had tried to persuade Cid, the Al Bhed king, to go into the Yevon beliefs. If it would save their people, they had said, it was worth it. But he and others would always argue back, No, it isn't worth dropping our values and everything we believe in. We are who we are, and we will stay that way no matter what obstacles we face.

This time, the obstacle had been five hundred Yevonite soldiers and two hundred captured fiends raised to fight in war.

They had lost terribly, their number of inhabitants decreasing by a huge amount. Barely any were left now. What was it, one hundred? There had once been over five hundred…there had once been a whole society…

A young girl stood to the side, gathering supplies requested by her father. As young as she was, she understood the seriousness of the group. Many had lost family and friends, if not both. Everyone worked silently and grimly – only a few short weeks ago had the massacre destroyed them. No one had had time to grieve and get it out of their systems.

Rikku, twelve- going on thirteen-years-old, walked purposefully towards Cid, her father. "Here Pop!" she cried, dropping the two metal beams on the sand beside him. Sand grit got under her goggles, and she quickly wiped it away with her oily gloves. "Anythin' else you need?" she asked, trying to sound chipper. In fact, she was anything but. Some of her best friends had died in that fight, not to mention her uncle, grandfather, and grandmother. Even people she hadn't known well, but truly liked, were gone. Dead. It made Rikku's blood boil.

"Thanks youngin'," he grunted, lifting the poles off of the ground like they were twigs. Rikku planted her hands on her hips almost defensively.

"How come I'm not as strong as you are, Pop?" she asked, trying not to annoy him too much. "I mean, I wanna do more work rebuildin' home then fetchin' stuff!"

Cid patted her on the head as he placed the bars in place. "Can you get me my hammer, Rikku?" he asked suddenly. Rikku obeyed, running the short distance to his tool box and back. There was a silence until Cid finally answered.

"Rikku honey, I don't know if this occurred to ya yet, but…you're a girl."

Rikku snorted. "Well I knew that," she said absently. "But whenever I try to help, I'm always shooed off! Pop, I'm GOOD!"

"And ya probably are, but lots of Al Bhed here just don't see lotsa girls your age doin' labor, Rikku. Ya need to wait till yer older, got it? Now go see to the new refugees. They should just be over the sand dunes, some miles away. It's an easy walk," Cid said, pointing south of Home. Rikku sighed heavily, blowing her blonde bangs into the air.

"But Pooop…"

"Rikku, now."

"But seeing to refugees are bori—"

"You will stop right there, young lady," Cid growled bending on his knee to look at Rikku straight in the eye. "Ya'd be one of 'em if it hadn't been fer the tunnels, got it? They're us, yer them. Now see to 'em."

Cid's forceful tone, not often used, caused Rikku to scamper towards the sand dunes, tripping on her own two feet and sliding down the sand dunes in her haste.

Rikku stood on the second sand dune, covering her eyes from the suns glare on her goggles to try and see the refugees. Usually they came in a straight, long line of wagons, which usually got caught on the sand and grit beneath them. The refugees were new Al Bhed, being shoved from their homes throughout the rest of Spira and headed for Home, a place learned of from their friends. Rikku supposed she was supposed to help the other guides the rest of the way to Home.

But this time, there were only six or seven wagons on their way to home. Rikku furrowed her eyebrows. Why were there so many? It was clear they weren't attacked. That happened too often to be good – usually refugees were spotted traveling the desert and attacked because they were Al Bhed. They could never be hidden well in such an open expanse of land. It was always dangerous to travel with the refugees, but someone from Home needed to guide them.

"Rikku?" Through the whirling sand storm which was steadily growing worse, Rikku heard a familiar voice.

"Briindi?" Rikku called her voice hoarse. The figure nodded, waving a hand and dipping two fingers down, an Al Bhed motion for 'get over here now.' Rikku replied with the same motion, except two fingers up rather than down. Then, at lightning speed the girl ran to her friend.

"What happened Briindi?" Rikku asked with concern, looking at the line of refugees walking or riding in wagons behind him. Many were cut up or bruised, with looks of sorrow written on their faces.

"Oh, nothing happened to us. It was actually just two or three wagons before, but then…" Briindi stopped as a little Al Bhed child screamed and ran past him to try and get ahead, giggling despite the sand storm. He bent down to grab the child around the waist, giving him a stern look. "Cdyo fedr ouin bynahdc meddma uha, ugyo? Hu nihhehk uvv, ed'c tyhkanuic." (Stay with your parents little one, okay? No running off, it's dangerous.) The little boy only stared in Briindi's eyes for a few moments, and then nodded. Briindi set him back on the sand, pointing him in the direction of the wagons. The child ran off, frightened of Briindi. The boy couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"So anyway…," Rikku poked as the two and the refugees continued to move slowly through the sand that was beginning to drift because of the wind.

"Oh, well, we were passing the old ruins to the North, you know?" Rikku nodded at the question. The blonde, tall boy was quiet for a moment. "Well, it wasn't normal. Usually it's eerily silent…" He looked at Rikku pointedly. "I'm sure you know that?"

Rikku suppressed a smile. She and Briindi had often gone exploring the old ruins, trying to find treasure and the like. "Yea," she admitted. "But what was different this time with the refugee's? That's a normal camping place…"

"Yea. Normal, my as—," he started, then stopped. "My foot," he finished lamely. "Normal, my foot. But anyway, just when I and a few others were organizing camping groups, a group of about three of four Al Bhed came staggering past the sand dunes that barricade the ruins. They were all bruised and bloody, and – and beaten." The fifteen year-old boy gulped, and Rikku patted his arm thoughtfully, but her arm was ripped away by the howling wind. Briindi continued to yell out his story.

"They said that there was a large group of them, running away from their home. I asked them where their home was, and they said the mines. Mines, I asked. What mines? After all, since when does Bikanel have mines? They answered that there were crystal mines east of the ruins, past the low mountains that block off the shore. Of course, we were all shocked and didn't believe them until we saw line after line of other people in the same condition, sometimes worse, walking slowly into our camp…almost dazed. I asked what they had done at this home, and they said…they said…slave labor."

Rikku gasped. Slave labor was strictly forbidden throughout all of Spira. It was a rule everyone followed, Yevonites and Al Bhed alike. "Are you serious!" Rikku cried eyes wide with shock. Briindi nodded. "Yes," he spoke miserably. "And I couldn't just leave them there after everything they've been through. We agreed to bring them to Home. I know there isn't enough room for all of them, I know, we can make some more temporary tents and stuff."

Rikku only nodded, but she bit her lip at the same time – a habit of hers when she was nervous. What would Cid say to this? Normally he wouldn't mind, but lately, what with the massacre and lack of necessary supplies for the new Home…

The two walked on in silence for a bit longer. Rikku couldn't believe how long it was taking. It had only taken her an hour to walk here, but this was taking at LEAST four, perhaps more! In the next hour or so the wind settled down, leaving awkward drifts and clumps of sand everywhere, where the wheels of the wagons got stuck and gritty, where people sunk into the sand and had to get help up, and where Rikku herself was having trouble taking the giant-like steps needed to make it over the drifts.

As Rikku was helping to lift a small child out of a particularly nasty drift of sand, she felt something, or someone slam into her curved back, as well as a loud "Whoa!" She toppled over into the sand, nearly squishing the young three-year-old still amid the sand drift. She felt her body sink into the sand, her back throbbing with a dull ache from the slam. She struggled to sit up, spitting out mouthfuls of sand while at the same time hacking on the bits that had gotten down her throat. She rubbed at her gritty eyes and realized she was almost waist deep in the sand drift, and the three-year-old was still stuck in the sand beside her, tears trickling down her cheeks.

Rikku tried to get up, but her legs stuck in the sand, collapsing beneath her. She fell face first into the sand again, growling in frustration. She tried once more to get up, pushing her hands into the sand to lift her body up. But instead of staying on the surface they sunk right into the sand, sending Rikku forward and taking yet another faceful of sand.

"Havin' some trouble there, Missy?" asked an unfamiliar voice. Rikku sat up, blinking her eyes until things became focused again. As Rikku was coughing, she noticed a child she didn't recognize standing beside the large sand drift. Rikku stopped coughing almost immediately. He was on one of the cutest boys she had ever seen – floppy blond hair that spiked up naturally in places, along with one twinkling green eye. The other was covered by an eye patch. His mouth was lifted up in the corner, a smirk Rikku was going to be haunted by the rest of her life. He was kneeling on one leg, his arms resting on the thigh of the raised leg. Rikku almost smiled at him, until she realized that would be much too girly. She forced herself not to flirt with this handsome boy.

"What do you care?" she spat, glaring at him. "It's YOUR fault I'm in this position anyways!" she guessed. "You're the one who pushed me over." She glared at him, waiting for him to answer. His eye crinkled in something that looked like – laughter? But his mouth hadn't changed from its smirk.

"True, all too true," he finally admitted. "But my friend, Azhear, pushed me. You know, we were just foolin' around -,"

"I don't care what you were doin'!" Rikku snapped as the last wagon rolled past lazily. "Get me OUT of here! I need to help the kid out!"

The boy blinked. "What kid?"

Rikku shot her head to the left to see a depression made from the child's body, but no child. "Oh no!" she cried stupidly, beginning to dig in the spot even though she herself was still stuck. "She sunk, she sunk! Ooh, I just know it! Thanks a lot, you sayhea!" (Meanie.)

The boy only clicked his tongue in such an annoying way Rikku glared at him with all the anger in her body – which wasn't really that much. But it was enough to silence the clicking. "Her mother or someone that seemed like it got her while you were too busy admiring me," he answered calmly. Rikku ignored the egotistic remark and looked behind her to see the wagons rolling along at a speed that seemed faster than before. She turned back to the boy.

"Look, I don't care who you are, what you did, or how in love with yourself you are. Can you just help me out? I'm helpin' the refugee's make it to Home, and the others haven't been to it yet. I'm the only one who knows the way to safety!" Rikku finally snapped, glaring at him. "You're a refugee, aren't you? Do you WANT to be safe?" She didn't let him answer, because the way his mouth stayed in that sadistic smirk broke her nerves. "Then help me up!" There was a silence, where Rikku glared at the boy and the boy smiled back.

"Okay," the boy answered calmly. Too calmly for Rikku. He stuck out his hand for her to grab, and Rikku reached for it tentatively, afraid he might pull it back just in time for Rikku to fall into the sand once more. But instead, he allowed her fingers to grasp onto his hand. It was warm, but not grossly sweaty. Rikku almost blushed, because she knew her hand was gritty and sweaty, and was probably disgusting. He grunted as he heaved her up. Now Rikku stood up, but her feet were still stuck. She stood there, her hands still clinging tightly onto the boy's one arm, shaking her boot out of the sand at the same time. She thanked the Gods for the balance given by the boy as her feet soon became loose. She stepped out of the drift and onto the normal, flat sand. Rikku looked ahead to see the third wagon stuck in the sand and being pushed by a group of men. She smiled. Good, she wasn't too behind.

"Oh," she remembered, turning around to the boy. "Thanks. For…you know, helpin' me out."

The boy gave her the smirk once more, a hand on his hip. "Have you already forgotten it's my fault you were there in the first place? Wow, I didn't know I looked THAT good that someone would forgive me for throwing them into sand…"

Rikku punched the boy in the arm. "Oh, crid ib!" she chuckled. (Shut up.)

"Whatever you say, Missy."

"I have a name!" Rikku yelled at him, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. This only seemed to amuse the boy, because he chuckled.

"All right then, what is your name?"

It was just a normal question, but for some reason sent shivers up Rikku's spine. She had no idea why.

"It's Rikku," she replied proudly. "Just Rikku." No princess, she thought mentally. I don't want him to judge me because I'm a princess.

The two began to walk to follow the wagons. For the moment Rikku forgot about her responsibility as she continued to talk with this boy. "So, what about--," she started, but gasped in the middle of her sentence.

"What about what?" the boy asked suspiciously. Rikku couldn't answer, because her eyes were planted on his face. She didn't even blink for several moments. "Uh…this is sort of awkward," the boy admitted, his ears pink. Rikku shook her head slowly and leaned in to get a closer look at his face. He was much taller than her already, but standing on tiptoe she could see it.

"Bruises," she whispered absently. Rikku saw his eye widen slightly.

"Oh…you noticed them?"

Rikku absorbed just how many there were on his face. Above his eye, on his temples, his chin, and even on his neck. Impulsively she grabbed for him arm and looked down at it. Her mouth dropped open as she saw bruise after bruise and cut after cut on his arm. Some still bled openly. How had she not noticed this before?

"You're…one of them," she said, looking up into his eye. "You were a slave, weren't you?" Just saying the word slave made her feel dirty. This boy, this annoying but okay boy, had been a slave? Rikku saw images of him being whipped or beaten, starved and everything. He was too thin to be healthy.

His eye narrowed at her. "Is it really any of your business?" he asked dryly, ripping his arm away and stalking towards the wagons, which were on the move once more. Rikku followed him, still trying to shake off the fact that this boy was a slave. She wasn't used to such ideas.

"Actually, it is!" she said blindly, running up beside him. "I'm helpin' to lead this group; I get the right to know some stuff about you." She paused. "It's not a thing to be ashamed of, you know," she voiced his thoughts, and she knew it because of his reaction. His face turned red and he glared at her once more, but as scary as his glare was, Rikku just stood her ground, glaring back.

"I'm not ashamed," he said through gritted teeth. "It's just--," he paused, not finishing his sentence. "Let's just forget about it, okay? I'll live in Home, it'll be fine. Don't live in the past, got it Missy?"

"It's RIKKU!" Rikku shouted, momentarily forgetting about his past. The boy just laughed.

"Okay Missy."

Rikku fumed silently, until she realized something. She didn't even know this boy's name!

"Hey, what's your name then, huh? Unless you want me to start callin' you Mister," she teased. The boy grimaced in disgust.

"My name's Gippal," he said shortly. "Just Gippal," he mocked, and Rikku punched his arm again while walking backwards.

"Stop bein' so mean, Gippal!" she cried, testing the name on her tongue. It was awkward and made her feel giddy, but…she'd get used to it.

"But it's a habit," he replied nastily, ruffling her hair. Rikku tried to duck, but she was too slow. She winced as it pulled at her braids.

"Hey, watch it!" she ordered, standing up and punching him in the arm again. He opened his smirking mouth, about to reply, when a call interrupted.

"Rao Neggi, kad ib rana ymnayto! Rusa'c hud kuhhy veht ic fedruid oui maytehk!" (Hey Rikku, get up here already! Home's not gonna find us without you leading!) Rikku sighed heavily.

"I gotta go up," she replied. Gippal snorted.

"I'm not dumb you know. I know how to speak Al Bhed. I can also understand it, if you didn't already get that," he teased, leaning in as if to challenge her. Rikku only shook her head in his face, forcing a smile on her face.

"I have a feelin' I'm never going to get used to having you in Home."

"Better get used to it, Missy. I'll be around for quite a while."

Rikku overheard this comment as she was running to the front. "CRID IB SAYHEA!" she called back, giving him a rude gesture whilst laughing at the same time. Gippal pretended to faint in mock horror at her gestures. Rikku only shrugged and stuck out her tongue, bouncing to the front to lead the way.

Living in Home will be much more interesting now, Rikku decided while pointing that they should head east because they got off track. Much more interesting.

A/N: There! My first chapter. I was planning on making it longer, but I decided this was enough for an introduction. Hope you liked it! Oh, and for ONCE, I DO have a plot in mind. It might…just…go off track. Because, you know, it's really not that good of a plot. So this is an ADVANCED apology for terrible plot screw ups I make. So sorry.

But anyway, PLEASE review, it makes my day SO, SO, SO much happier. Smile.