The sun had gone down completely by the time Gippal got back to Rikku's house. He was about to knock on the door when he saw the note taped onto it.

'Gippal, I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I knew you'd come back, thanks for not giving up on me. That being said, please give up on me. I started this new life to escape everything, and I just can't face my past again. It would be best for everyone if you just moved on. Goodbye -Rikku.

Gippal just sighed. "Riks, you know I can't do that." He muttered to himself. He knocked on the door, but received no answer. With another sigh, Gippal called out. "Riks, I know you're in there! Open up!"

"Are you looking for the girl who lives there?"

Gippal whirled around to see a petite blond woman, who was crossing the street.

"Yes. Have you seen her?" Gippal asked distractedly; he had a strange feeling of Déjà vu as though he'd met this woman before.

"Who are you?" the woman questioned, picking at a loose button on her weather-beaten coat.

"I'm a friend..." Gippal said, not wanting to trust her, but doing it anyway. "She's been shutting me out lately, and I'm worried about her."

The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously, staring holes into his eye. After a moment she said "You're Gippal, aren't you?" she frowned. "Yeah, I remember you. Anyway, Rikku's at work. She works the night-shift at a bar called Zang's place...or something like that."

Gippal nodded. "Thanks...do you have a pen?" The woman searched her coat pocket and gave him one. He turned around and flipping Rikku's note over he wrote a message to Ruby, in case she decided to meet him there.

Went to 'Zang's place' to find Rikku. We'll be back soon, if you want to come meet us there. -Gippal

With an approving nod he turned back around. "By the way have we ever─" he stopped talking and stared out into the empty street; the woman had left while he was writing the note.

....

'Zang's place' turned out to be 'Zang's palace', though it should have been called 'Zang's dingy hole in the wall'. That title would have been far more accurate. The place was almost entirely wooden, or at least was meant to be, because it was all a tacky brown color. The only lighting was a light-bulb hanging in the middle of the room, and though it was bright, over half the room was engulfed in shadow.

As Gippal entered he was met with the sight and smell of drunkards, and could barely think over the loud music that played. He scanned the room, and saw Rikku in the back tending the bar.

With a sigh he walked through the bar, careful to avoid bumping into any drunken weirdos, and approached the counter. "Rikku." He said softly, trying to get her attention.

Despite the loudness of the bar, Rikku stopped talking to a customer who was flirting with her─ a fact that she clearly didn't enjoy, based off of her fake grin and high pitched tone─ and turned to look him in the eyes.

"Riks, can I talk to you for a second?" Gippal asked nervously.

Rikku looked around nervously, as though looking for someone, before slowly nodding.

"Be right back" she chirped to man she had been talking to, and then they stepped a few steps away from the crowd.

Gippal gave her a once over. She was wearing a hot pink dress, that was skin tight, so much so that the straps seemed to be cutting into her shoulders. There was a slit in it that went to her upper thigh. Even though she usually wore less, the way she wore the dress was startling to him. For a moment he didn't know why until it dawned on him, he barely recognized her. With her dress, the ridiculous matching, high heels, all the makeup, she looked like a different person. What made her look the most different however, was her painted on smile, and the look of pure desperation in her eyes. Rikku used to smile with her eyes, now she frowned with them.

Rikku interrupted his thoughts. "Gips, I got to get back to work...What was it you wanted to say."

Gippal's heart fell; she hadn't used his nickname in years.

"I can't let you go." He blurted out, surprising himself on how desperate he sounded.

She frowned and crossed her arms. "That's just immature."

Gippal shook his head. "Look, I know you Rikku. Right now I know you better than you know you. You don't belong in this place" Gippal gestured around him in disgust. "You belong in the Celsius hunting for spheres, it's what you do best." He paused to wipe the tears of frustration from his eye. "And if you can't do that anymore...if you don't want to that's fine. I will help you do whatever you want...but I can't let you throw your life away like this."

Tears filled her eyes, but she stubbornly wiped them away. "That's it?" she asked with a frown. "You disrupted my work to give me a pep talk and claim that you know me better than I know myself? Well news flash, you don't own me! Heck you don't even know me!" Tears filled her eyes, and she wiped them away once more. "You have only ever seen me in passing for the last three years! How can you know me better than I do?"

Gippal sighed; he wasn't getting anywhere like this. "Rikku, I just want you to be happy. I know you don't want this! And we both know that Paine wouldn't want this either!"

Rikku scowled at him. "What did you just say?"

Gippal noticed his mistake too late, why had he mentioned Paine? He'd just have to go along with it. "That's right. Paine wouldn't want you to throw away your life. She would want you to fight your sorrow not just run away!"

Rikku's eyes widened at his words, but she quickly returned to her scowl. "Paine. Is. Dead." She muttered through gritted teeth. "Thank you ever so much for reminding me! Now have a nice life Gippal, and leave me the hell alone!"

She turned away and walked right into someone, falling over in the process. She stood up and cursed under her breath; she was staring right at her boss.

"What did I tell you about getting distracted?!" he bellowed at her.

"I'm sorry Zang, I had something important to discuss with a customer." Rikku said calmly, though it was evident she wasn't sorry at all.

"Important?! I'm trying to run a business here, I don't need you screwing it up!"

Rikku sighed "Like I said I'm sorry. But the longer you yell at me about it the longer I'm not working."

Zang turned a shade of crimson, before he smacked her.

Gippal was about to intervene when he noticed the change in Rikku's expression. The fire in her eyes made him take a step back, she could handle this herself.

Rikku stood up straighter and bawled up her fists. Zang didn't notice, he was too busy berating her.

"Any more sass and you're fired!"

Rikku shook her head. "Impossible. I quit." Her voice was level, but Gippal could tell that she was two seconds from attacking this idiot. Unfortunately for Zang, he didn't hear her and kept on yelling.

After taking a deep breath Rikku turned away and began to leave the bar.

Zang followed after her, and when he caught up with her, her grabbed her arm, to turn her around. What he didn't expect was that she would spin around and punch him in the face.

He staggered backwards, and while he was off balance she pushed him over. He went flying into a table, and immediately he was getting pounded on by everyone around him.

A moment later everyone in the room was attacking one another, for no other reason than just because.

Gippal sighed; he didn't want to have to fight any of these drunk idiots. He was just thinking of a way to avoid this, when he noticed Rikku walking towards him. She had no problem doing this, as everyone was avoiding her; the fire in her eyes seemed to be enough to scare them away. When she reached him she gave him a stern look.

"Rikku, look I─" she cut him off by smacking him in the face.

"Ow! What was tha─" she cut him off again by pulling him into a hug.

"I missed you!" she sobbed into his shoulder.

Gippal's eye filled with tears. "I missed you too."

She pulled away and smiled, actually smiled instead of her fake little grins. "Let's get out of here." She took him by the wrist and pulled him towards the exit.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Ruby standing in the doorway. She spun around and looked at Gippal with horror filled eyes. "That's the girl you were talking about right?" she asked. She looked spooked.

Gippal nodded. "It's just Ruby."

Rikku sighed in relief. "Good, I thought I was either seeing a ghost or hallucinating...I don't want to have to take meds again."

Gippal was about to ask what she meant by that, when Ruby approached them.

"Eh...looks like Zang finally got his." Ruby remarked, not at all surprised. She looked back up at them. "Anyway, I take it you two were about to leave?"

Gippal nodded. He took a closer look at her and frowned. "You're all bruised up...did you get hit by someone?"

Ruby frowned. "What?..." There was an awkward pause, before she snapped her fingers and explained. "Oh yeah, I tried to look for you but got caught up in this, I figured I should wait here for you instead."

Gippal frowned, and as they left he couldn't help but wonder for the millionth time what this girl had to hide.

When they got outside Rikku laughed and leaned against the wall. "Well. I'm now unemployed and soon to be homeless..." she grinned "Now I'm starting to feel like myself again." She winked at them. "Well then, what now?"

Gippal frowned. What should they do know? He hadn't thought this through. "We um..uh...."

Ruby nervously interjected. "We could go to Bevelle... I have to go there once a year anyway, and you have friend's there right?"

Rikku nodded. "Sure why not. I've got nothin' to live for, might as well make the best of it." She grinned, and putting an arm around Ruby's shoulder they walked away.

Gippal was starting to get really worried about Rikku. When she got in these moods there was no telling what she would do. But at least she was getting along with Ruby; that was reassuring. But of course, Gippal knew Rikku well enough to know that wouldn't last very long at all.

A/N I LIIIIVE!!!! XD Seriously though, it has been forever since I updated this, and I am so happy to be back. I love my other stories, but this one is my baby. lol Unfortunately I can't update weekly anymore, but I will try to update at least once a month. (Hopefully more than that)

I guess I'm putting Rippal in this story too, not just Paralai....Sorry if any of y'all don't ship those two. They aren't the focus of the story though, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal.

What did y'all think about this chapter? Good? Bad? Paine will give any of you respect points if you know what 'Zang' means in Al Bhed. (I'll give you respect points if you vote or comment. XD ) Well that's all for now, stay tuned for more Final Fantasy goodness. Love y'all/thanks for reading -Reibun