"This is where she lives?" Ruby asked, nervously looking around.

"Apparently" Gippal didn't blame her; the neighborhood of Luca they were in didn't exactly look all that safe.

The house itself wasn't bad; it was small, but Rikku lived alone so it was plenty big enough for her. The front lawn was alright. There were a few bushes in the front, and the patio however small it proved to be, was kept neat and clean.

The neighborhood around it wasn't so good; most of the houses had broken windows, and Gippal was pretty sure someone in the neighborhood was selling drugs of some kind or another.

Gippal turned to Ruby and gave her an apologetic look. "I need to talk to Rikku alone for a minute...I need you to stay out here...she might freak out."

Ruby nodded. "I understand." She stepped out of view and Gippal walked up to the front door. Nervously he knocked on it, his hands trembling a little. Why was he nervous? Was it because he was afraid of her reaction? Or was it something else?

The door opened and Rikku appeared behind it. Because of her appearance, instead of saying hello, Gippal asked, "Rikku, are you okay?"

She looked terrible. Her hair was matted and seemed to have a brush sticking out of it. Her clothes were worn out and stained, and her eyes had dark circles and looked puffy as though she was crying.

Rikku faked a yawn and rubbed away the tears that had welled up in her eyes; being asked if she was alright, when she clearly wasn't, always made her cry. "Yeah" she yawned again, for real this time. "I'm just tired." She frowned "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would've cleaned myself up a bit."

Gippal frowned. What was she hiding from him? Why couldn't she just be honest for once?

"Sorry...it was a spontaneous thing" he said. "look, there's someone I want you to meet."

Rikku looked around with pursed lips. "I don't see anybody." She mumbled. She was being short with him. She did this when she was depressed and didn't want people to know. She never moved on when Paine died, she just pretended to, at least she tried to keep her promise to Paine. But that was why she left the Gullwings, left her old life. Gippal worried more about her than anyone else, especially when she kept putting barriers like this.

"She's around the corner." He said "I wanted to talk to you first."

Rikku frowned. "About what?"

Gippal frowned. "I met this girl at Bikanel..."

"So what?" Rikku demanded coldly. "Just because you're a player doesn't mean I want to hear about it."

That hurt. When Rikku got cold like this, it pretty much destroyed Gippal's ego. But he wasn't thinking about himself right now, he was worried about her.

"I'm not a player." He frowned. "I want you to meet her...because she's identical to Paine."

Rikku's eyes widened when he said Paine's name. She shrinked back inside, her eyes darkening. "I don't think so." She said and shut the door in his face.

Just then Ruby rounded the corner, tears in her eyes. "She really misses her friend." she said; apparently she was eavesdropping the whole time.

Seeing tears in those Crimson eyes of hers just brought back memories of Paine. In their Crimson Squad days, the very first night they were together, Paine had a breakdown when she thought they were asleep. During the day she was so tough and strong, but she'd been the opposite when she thought no one was watching. Now Rikku was doing the same. She was no longer the girl who always had a smile on her face, she was now the one who hid a way and closed her heart off from the world.

Gippal sighed. "Paine was ─no is ─an amazing friend. None of us took her loss well..." he sighed. "You said you and your mom live in Luca?" he asked. "Let's go see her; she'll be worried about you."

Ruby frowned. "But what about her?" she gestured to the house with her head.

Gippal sighed again. "She'll come around eventually. Let's go see your mom, and we'll come back when we're done."

Ruby nodded and led the way. Gippal couldn't help but notice the nervous way she walked; she seemed so unsure of herself. How different than Paine, then again, maybe they had more in common than just their looks. Maybe, just maybe, she'd be the key to returning things to a healthier state, not just for Rikku, but for all of them. 'We need this.' He thought to himself. And he had the strange feeling that Ruby needed this more than them all combined. Only time would reveal the truth of things. Only time would tell.

A/N Finally, I'm back. Sorry guys I've been gone forever! I'm not even going to try and count how many updates I missed. Anyway, I'm over my Writers block now, and so I'll be posting on schedule again. Sorry this chapter is so rushed, but I'm still getting into the groove of this story again. Hopefully y'all have enjoyed this so far, thank you so much to everyone who has read this far, despite the sloppy updates and short chapters. Y'all rock! Stay tuned for more FF goodness! Love y'all -Reibun. ^_~