FicWad

There was a sense of loss when the adventures were over, it came to her and she almost drowned in it. Rikku had never felt so frustrated ever since the time she was pulling her hair and tearing her face trying to think of way to keep Yuna alive.

Rikku hadn't seen Yuna and Paine for some time, and it drove her nuts just waiting for them to contact her. It might be willful on her side that she wanted them to take the initiative to look for her just once; but when her stubborn side decided to take over, she ended up making herself miserable.

She would spend a lot of time running around for many assignments to keep herself busy and distracted, and maybe ran into some sort of troubles to provide her the perfect excuse for her to look for her friends; and she wouldn't need to explain to her own hard rock stubborn girl side.

Trips to Djose temple strangely wasn't on her regular visit list, seeing how busy the Machine Faction was and how Gippal always needed an extra hand. He had not asked and Cid would generally left him alone. Rikku hadn't really been very comfortable with him all these while despite them knowing each other since young. Maybe it was the joke he had made in front of Yuna and Paine about them making a nice couple once.

But he was her best friend when they were children, and he had always been there for her when she needed him. She was certain perhaps she had a crush on him once, and maybe he had on her too. But years had passed and feelings changed. The period in between him leaving the Al Bhed to join the Crimson Squad and them reuniting at Djose temple during the sphere hunting wasn't really that long, yet she found an invisible that seemed to have formed throughout the years in between them.

Talking to Gippal seemed a bit weird for her now, especially when it was something she would normally only shared with Yuna or Paine. But she had none of them around her now, and she needed to talk. She didn't like to keep everything in herself because it drove her nuts, and she hated being miserable about something that might be nothing at all. So talking about it was the best solution, and unfortunately for her, Brother and Buddy just didn't seemed to be the right candidates.

Rikku suspected perhaps the understandings between them hadn't really changed at all. Especially when she was clearly being clumsy in her reasonings and Gippal knew she was looking for a pathetic excuse; to tell him she needed to talk without making herself looking like some whiny kid. He brought her to the bridge near the temple and heard her talked her hearts out, while he listened to her quietly.

Gippal wasn't really a jerk as Brother always thought he was, Rikku knew best. After she poured out her discomfort about the issues happening, he simply smiled and patted her gently. And it felt like nothing had really changed for them all these years.

Gippal was her best friend since young, and he still was. His ruffling of her hair, his gentle and encouraging hug was still so comforting to her. It was then Rikku felt like she was the luckiest girl alive in Spira.

Many had lost, even Yuna, who had to make great efforts to finding it back for herself. While Rikku had never lost, at least not this precious friendship between Gippal and herself.