A/N: Hey people!!! Butterfly here. ^^ This is my first Rikku/Gippal fic so please be gentle in your criticism, and please review. Whether you like it or not, really, I like to know your opinion...Okayz, enough sucking up. I don't own Gippal or Rikku or anyone else featured in this from X/X-2. Hope you enjoy!!

Chapter One—Shinra's New Toy

"This is just great!!" I shrieked, ramming my foot into the piece of junk Shinra called an airship. We had been in the middle of test driving it when the engine decided to shut down on us, so now we were stuck between Djose Temple and the Moonflow.

"Stop kicking it!!" Shinra tugged at my leg, trying to pull me away from his baby. "You're only going to make it worse!!"

"I don't care!! It's defective!!" I snapped at him stubbornly, still kicking it with the leg he wasn't holding onto.

Yunie sighed, one hand on her hip, the other on her forehead shielding her eyes. "What do we do now? Wakka and Lulu were expecting us in Besaid to babysit Vidina tonight..." Oh, I knew she wasn't worried about seeing Vidina. Tidus was in Besaid. Since the Fayth gave him back, Yunie had abandoned the Gullwings, and it was starting to get on my nerves. They were always hugging and kissing and doing stuff on the airship that made Brother plummet into oblivion. Not that I enjoyed the Brother part, but the rest was annoying!!

"Wakka and Lulu will live," said Paine bluntly, an uncaring tone to her voice.

"Paine is right!!" Brother was wallowing on the ground, pretending to be hurt in hopes that Yuna would comfort him. We were the ones who had been on the deck when the airship went down. Brother had absolutely NO reason to be whining. "We're stuck in the middle of nowhere!! Hu vuut....hu fydan!!! Fa'na tuusat!!"

"Technically, we're between Djose and the Moonflow," injected Buddy. "So, we can either get help from Tobli or Gippal."

"Tobli!!" I exclaimed quickly. "We should totally get help from Tobli!! He owes us from the last time Yunie starred in his show!!" It had been a really good show, too. Shoopufs everywhere!!

"Yeah, but Gippal would know how to work on the airship. I wouldn't trust Tobli touching my baby..." Shinra slapped his hand down on the piece of junk, and it groaned under him and flopped loudly down on the ground in a ore comfortable position.

"But Tobli's hypello are very, very talented!!" I complained, bouncing on the balls of my feet nervously.

"I get the feeling you don't want to see Gippal," said Paine, glancing at me with crimson eyes that were way too smart.

I gaped at her and jumped up and down angrily. "What!!?? Why in the name of Spira would you think that? I like Gippal....most of the time. Seeing him would be refreshing!! Completely refreshing!! In fact, I suggest we go see him and ask for his help on the airship!!" The words were out of my mouth before I'd really thought them through. To be painfully honest, I'd give my right arm to see Gippal. Gippal with his spiky blond hair and sexy eye-patch.

I was so caught up in my daydreaming about Gippal that I almost didn't catch Paine heading off in the direction of the Machine Faction. I ran down the road after her quickly and dove, latching onto her ankle. Yunie said my name, but I ignored her. I was too busy trying to stop Paine from reaching Gippal.

"Wait!! You can't go!!" I cried.

Paine tugged at her leg, glaring down at me with red daggers of malice. "Rikku, let go of me. I thought you said it was a good idea."

"Paine!! Quit dragging her!!" Yunie was in the process of figuring out a way to get me off Paine's leg. Her efforts were, however, in vain. I would never let go!!

"We can't leave Brother unsupervised!!" I exclaimed loudly, my voice strained. "He'll blow up the Moonflow!!"It wasn't entirely untrue...

"He's not unsupervised. Buddy and Shinra are with him. We need to get the airship fixed, and I'm not counting on a kid to do it."

"A very capable kid!! I mean, he did build the whole thing!!" I snapped. I pulled my knees out and up until I was balancing on my toes. I yanked at Paine's leg, anchoring her in position.

"I don't care. The only way we're going to get home is if we have help. Shinra doesn't even have the parts with him to fix the airship. We're going to see Gippal," said Paine in one of those tones that said question me and you're dead.

"No!!" I screamed. "I don't want to see that egotistical, selfish, cocky, arrogant..." I trailed off, trying to find a way to end this long string of insults. "...Al Bhed." That worked.

"Say, aren't you Al Bhed too?" said an all too familiar voice that sent a thrilling wave of shivers through me. I looked up at Gippal, smiling a little over-enthusiastically.

"Ooooh, hi, Gippal!!" I said, waving to him with one hand. The other I kept tightly wrapped around Paine's ankle. "I didn't see you there!! What're you doing so far away from Djose?" That's right, Rikku, small talk!! It'll confuse him!!

"We saw the airship come down, so I came to make sure you guys were all right. I'd get bad publicity if Spira thought I didn't run to the high summoner's aid," said Gippal.

Yunie smiled in that polite way of hers. "We were just coming to ask for your help. The engine's broke, and Shinra doesn't have the parts to fix it." I wanted to kick her. She was revealing our plans to the enemy!! How could she?

Paine roughly shook her leg, and I tumbled off, landing in a tangled mess at their feet. "Hey!! That was rude!!" I jumped to my feet, flailing my arms angrily through the air.

"So do you think you can help?" Paine asked, completely ignoring me. I deflated, crossing my arms as I pouted.

"Sure. I'll get some of my men out here at once. Buddy and Brother with you?" Gippal asked, also ignoring me. He did that just to spite me.

"Of course they are," said Yunie conversationally. "They'll be happy to have your help."

"Great." Gippal scratched his head once. "You guys may have to stay a night at Djose, depending on the damage done to the airship. Go on ahead and make yourselves comfortable. I'll check out how the airship is and snag the rest of the troupe." He ruffled my hair, tragically ruining it, as he walked past. "Don't cause too much trouble, Cid's Girl."

"I have a name!!" I shrieked at his back, watching him walk away. He waved his arm before disappearing down the path in the direction of the airship's crash site. Once I was sure he was gone, I bit my lip and bounced violently through the air. "Oh, this is not good!! This is really not good!!"

Paine shrugged. "I think you're over-exaggerating. We'll only be here a night at the most. Besides, I thought you liked Gippal."

"Shut up!!" I wailed, tugging at her arm. "He might hear you!!" Gippal and I weren't good together. That's why we broke up. Every time I saw him though, there was that warm feeling I felt in my toes, and it was really annoying. To him, all I am is 'Cid's Girl.' He probably only dated me because of that silly old fool of mine. Still...to spend a whole night with him in the vicinity....it spelled trouble, and not the trouble I like to throw myself into!!

I didn't have any choice, though. We were stuck until the airship was fixed. I could only hope I survived through the night.

Okay, that's all for chapter one. Please review with whatever you want. Thanks for reading. I'll get chapter two up soon!!