Bikanel, Friday, Fandom-Time (NFB)

[the_merriest]

As tempting as it was to put this off -- and it was, for many reasons -- Rikku knew that it was better to get this overwith. It was just going to hang there, in the back of her head, bothering her until she tackled it directly. She was starting to wonder if Momoko was right, and all of Home was doing the same thing.

Rikku	She felt a wave of homesickness as soon as she stepped onto the warm sand, seeing the familiar shapeless dunes extend out haphazardly as far as the eye could see. She hadn't been back to this island in years. She hadn't even realized, until this moment, how much she'd missed it. Maybe Bikanel was always going to be Home, no matter where she went in life. There were too many emotions, bubbling up in the back of her throat. She was going to do her best to clear it and keep herself under control. And if she couldn't ... maybe that was okay, too. In the meantime, she was going to be very, very grateful that she wasn't doing this alone. Or in front of Yuna, either. One would be devastating, and the other would mean she'd have to force herself to seem as normal as possible. She couldn't honestly decide which would have been worse. "Okay," she said, pleased that her voice wasn't too shaky after all. "Check out the exciting scenery, yoto. Get used to it, because this is pretty much it."
Reno	"We got... sand," Reno observed, looking out thoughtfully at the area around them. His hand was reaching for hers. Even if his voice was as casual as it ever was, he knew how important this was to her. "And some more sand. And, to mix shit up a bit, that over there looks kinda like..." He squinted. "More sand." And then he turned a grin toward her, though it was softer around the edges than his usual, if you knew what you were looking for. "Cozy."
Rikku	She did know what to look for. She couldn't say she knew better than anyone -- that honor probably went to Rude. But she knew. Much the same way that he knew to reach over for her hand, exactly when she needed it. She was going to hold on to his hand and squeeze. "It is," she agreed. Even if he had been sarcastic, it was cozy. To her, anyway. Maybe all homes were. "See, this is why outsiders get lost so easily. I mean, I get lost now and then, too."
Reno	"Well, you can't really give directions around here, can you? Turn left at the big dune, keep goin' until the next big dune, try not to trip on a cactus or somethin' if you can find one..." They were very precise directions. "Ain't so bad, really. Smells better'n Sector Five ever did, zoto."
Rikku	"You should see it at night," she said, staring up at the sky. There was so much sky here. She'd missed that, too. "You can go out just far enough that you can't see the lights from Home, find a quiet spot, and it's all dark with those sparkly little diamonds up overhead." Never mind that there weren't any lights at Home any more. "And then a sand worm sneaks up on you, but hey, killing sand worms is just part of the fun, right?"
Reno	"Well, duh," Reno replied, chuckling. "It's part of the experience. See the sand, interact with the wildlife." He looked up, pursing his lips a little. "You know, we ain't watched the stars in forever."
Rikku	"Let's stay out here tonight," she said, impulsively. "Even if we find the fiend early. I can show you all the constellations." Home was gone, but this was still the same sky she'd dreamed under. "It gets cold, but we have blankets," she added. And the cold of a desert night was still better than snow any day.
Reno	"Ain't like I never dealt with cold before anyhow," Reno pointed out. "So, you show me the constellations, I make some shit up, it all balances out?" He could make up constellations like a champ. Most of them would be dirty.
Rikku	Rikku was totally eager to learn all about Dumpy, the One-Balled Wonder. Or whatever else Reno came up with. "Thank you for being here," she said softly. She wasn't really sure she could have done this without him.
Reno	He gave her hand a soft squeeze, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek. "I wouldn't be nowhere else, babe," he replied. Where else was there? Rikku needed him here. And, even if Bikanel was a million miles of nothing but friggin' sand, Reno didn't much mind the place, either.

Rikku	Strangely enough, the longer they walked, the more cheerful Rikku became. Maybe it wasn't that strange. This had been her home. She knew these sand dunes, had fought her first sandworm over there, and stolen her first grenade over here, and played hide-and-seek over in that crevice. The midday sun was sweltering, exactly how she liked it. None of that ridiculous snow. "We found my sigil out here," Rikku said, climbing to the top of a small mound of sand. "Did I ever tell you that? We had to play tag with a bunch of Cactuars first."
Reno	"That so?" Reno, meanwhile, looked something like he was about to crawl out of either his uniform or his skin, one or the other. It was way too godsdamned hot to be proud of being a Turk, today. "The hell were a bunch'a Cactuars doin' with somethin' like that?"
Rikku	"They were guarding a sandstorm," she explained, narrowing her eyes and scanning the horizon. "Keeping it going or something like that. We found them all, popped them back into the statue, and boom! No more sandstorm, and there's my sigil." Nothing. Hmmph. She dusted her hands off and turned so she could skitter back down, careful not to fall. "You look hot," she laughed. "You should strip down to your skivvies. Ever tried to fight monsters n---" The innuendo was going to have to wait. Because something had just popped up over the next hill. Something huge that looked like it was itching for a fight. "... I think we found it, yoto," she said, her eyes widening as she pointed. .... kay. That thing looked mean.
Reno	... It had several heads. None of them looked particularly friendly, and most of them looked big enough to bite Reno in two. "Oh. Shit." It was no wonder they needed to call people in to deal with this bad boy. Reno gaped for a moment more, and then reached for his baton and rolled up his sleeves. Since they were here, they might as well do something about it.
Rikku	Rikku was trying not to panic. And at the same time, there was a little thrill going down her spine. This thing looked like a challenge. "Okay," Rikku said, sweeping some of the hair out of her face and nodding at her favorite Turk. "Are we ready for this?" Yeah, okay, the excited thrill of this guy being a challenge didn't seem to make her stomach churn any less. Guardian plus Turk meant they had a chance, here. If things went south, they were going to be stranded in the desert with no way of getting help. But on the upside, that thing had to drop decent loot. Because ... seriously.
Reno	"Gonna have to be, ain't we?" Really, in the long run, what could this thing possibly have on Yazoo and Loz? Don't answer that. Reno shot Rikku a crooked grin, and then took off toward the fiend at a run. Because even if he were to take off in an attempt to run away, where the hell was there to run to?
Rikku	Besides, he was exactly the type who would run into danger, headfirst and with a whoop. He was crazy like that. It was one of the reasons she loved him. ... So. It turned out the fiend-thing had one head that was immune to magic, and one that was immune to physical attacks, as well as a main head in the back that liked to cast mean nasty awful things at them while they were trying to kill off the other two stupid heads. It helped that they both had potions. And that Reno, when pushed, pulled out that way-awesome Turk Light thing. Seriously, it was cool. Someone should tell him that. For her part, she was sticking to magic bombs. Whenever they got the two side heads disabled, then they could whale on the main one, and that meant she could slice things up. Of course, it would eventually cast that horrible Perdition's Flame mess at them and heal the two side heads, but if it was healing them then it couldn't heal itself. So it was just a matter of being patient, using those potions, and chipping away at the freakish thing until it finally -- finally -- groaned and fell over, dissipating into pyreflies. Rikku, for her part, was going to fall flat onto her butt. "Just ... catching my breath," she said.
Reno	"That's what that is?" Reno managed to stay upright for slightly longer than Rikku, making his way over to her and then seating himself down on the sand beside her with... Well, slightly more grace, at least. "Tell me that big boy don't have a brother or nothin'?"
Rikku	Rikku, being mature, blew a raspberry at him. "I hope not," she said. "'Cause I'm so not dealing with more of him. I don't care how much loot he dropped." She flopped back onto the sand dramatically before cracking her eyes open again. "He did drop some loot, right?" Priorities.
Reno	Reno glanced over to where the big, ugly thing had been, a few moments before. "Yep. Totally dropped some loot." Forgive him for a moment, he was gaping.
Rikku	He was gaping in ways that worried her. She squinted, and then tried sitting up. "Tell me he's not respawning," she groaned. "Or growing into phase two or whatever stupid things monsters do when they just won't die."
Reno	"Nope," Reno replied, "he's good and dead. But if you ain't sittin' up in like two seconds, I'm takin' the loot for myself and dancin' around with it like a total friggin' idiot." Because... Because. There were two of them, and he'd only dropped one Ribbon.
Rikku	Okay, if it was that good, she was going to have to push herself the rest of the way to sitting, and -- "No way," she gasped, giving a wriggle of happy excitement. "No way. He dropped a Ribbon?" One small handy little accessory that guarded against, you know, everything.
Reno	"He did," Reno agreed, "but you gotta beat me to it, babe." That said, even if he was on his feet and making to run for it, he was totally going to let her win.
Rikku	Rikku attempted to push onto her feet ... and discovered that was a bad idea. So she flopped back down again. Maybe if she scooped up a handful of sand and flung it at him, that would .... um. Hang in the air and do absolutely nothing? "You can have it," she called out, closing her eyes again. "I'll just be over here, getting a tan. And wondering what kind of fee I should charge, for getting you out of this desert." He'd come with her. He'd totally earned the Ribbon. That didn't mean she wasn't going to tease him about it, first.
Reno	He would totally look hot with it tied in his hair in a pretty bow, right? He stood there, blinking at the sand, and then laughed and shook his head, going to retrieve the accessory in question before a Sand Worm could leap up and swallow it, or something. Because that would suck. A lot. "For gettin' me outta here? I'd say a Ribbon is just about fair," he mused, turning it over in his hand thoughtfully as he made his way back. "Other things I'd trade a Ribbon right about now? A drink of water, or for someone to cast Blizzard on my ass right about now." Black suit. Desert. Yeah.
Rikku	"We should share it," Rikku said. "Whoever's going up against the forces of darkness this week, takes the ribbon. Besides, you'd look cute with it." She pushed herself up onto her hands, and focused for a long second, before nodding once. Water was a really easy spell to cast, and he looked like he could use a couple of gallons on his head.

(Preplayed with the fantabulous raspberryturk. Will be continued in comments. NFB-distance, and NFI except for the Turk, zoto.)

Comments

[raspberryturk]

And now, Reno was a very soggy Turk with a pretty ribbon in his hand. If it wasn't for the suit, he'd probably look like a drowned rat in red.

"Thanks, babe."

He had been joking about the Blizzard thing, but this, he could handle.

"Now you gotta gimmie a hug, huh?"

[the_merriest]

For that, Rikku could even manage to stand up.

"Come onnn, I did you a favor," she laughed. "And of course I want a hug. It's kind of hot out here."

Hey, she thrived on this, but it could get a little warm, even for her. And Reno-hugs were awesome, even soggy ones.

She wrapped her arms around Reno with a light smile. "We're not that far from the cactuars," she said, "but they're still in the statue. Not much to see there."

Not much to see anywhere on Bikanel, any more. She should be feeling grateful that the fiend hadn't been at Home. And she was. But ... they'd come all this way. Maybe ...

[raspberryturk]

And Reno, for his part, made absolutely certain to get his soggy self all over Rikku's front.

Which could have been dirty, or could have just been thoughtful. It was always difficult to tell, with Reno.

"No?" He pursed his lips, and then gave her a light squeeze. "Well, we're here already, babe. If there was anything you wanted to do, now's the time to mention it, zoto."

[the_merriest]

Knowing Reno, it was probably both.

"What, you're not sick of sand?" she asked, voice trying for light. "I ... I was gonna be glad, that we didn't ... have to get any closer. To Home. But I ..."

Well. Maybe there was something she wanted to do. Maybe Momoko was right, about freeing the dead. And freeing the living, too.

[raspberryturk]

Reno wasn't about to let go. His hug was soggy, but soft.

"Hey. We can chill out right here as long as you need, babe. Take your time, yo."

Really, he wasn't going to take her by the arm and drag her to or away from Home. He wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere.

[the_merriest]

Rikku straightened up with a nod. "You ... you're great, you know that?" she said softly. "I don't say it enough."

She closed her eyes and allowed herself one long moment to think.

"Okay," she said. "Over this way, yoto. If you're up for a bit of walking."

And if he didn't mind that she'd probably need to stop before they even got there and freak out a little.

[raspberryturk]

Any praise was going to be deftly swept under the carpet, for Reno to pull out later and smirk over. It was nice to be considered great, at least by one person. He was going to keep her.

"Never minded a bit of walking before," he noted. "Now seems like a shitty time to start."

And she was allowed to freak out as much as she needed to.

[the_merriest]

"You aren't usually so pink when it happens," she teased gently, setting off again in the direction she'd been dreading most of the day. She knew where Home was. She could find it blindfolded.

"So now you see why we wear the bright colors, you know? Sand is boring to look at."

[raspberryturk]

"Ain't even no rocks in there to break up the landscape a bit," Reno mused, following along. "It's makin' me start to wonder if I should throw on a pair of chaps with some suspenders or somethin'."

He already had the goggles, at least. He was halfway there.

[the_merriest]

"Do you have any fun boxers on, today?" she asked. "You could wear them outside your pants. Or take your pants off and put your jacket on backwards."

The Al Bhed were not constrained by how other people wore their clothing. That was just unoriginal and dull.

[raspberryturk]

Reno contemplated for a moment.

"I think I'm wearin' the ones with the Cactuars on them," he mused. "Because I thought, shit, we're gonna be in a desert..."

Reno had Witty Underwear Days.

[the_merriest]

"Those are way cuter than sand worm ones would be," Rikku grinned. "I mean, talk about things nobody needs to see on underwear."

Sand worms were about one of the only animals she didn't have underwear of, so she was really one to talk, here.

"So, wear the boxers, the jacket, no shirt, no pants, socks pull all the way up your calves, and fancy shoes. Maybe a scarf of some kind. That'd make a half-decent Al Bhed."

[raspberryturk]

Reno was now laughing, leaning in to bump his shoulder against hers.

"You just want me runnin' around in my boxers so you can laugh at my pasty white chicken legs," he accused.

Hey. She'd totally laughed at them before.

[the_merriest]

"Maybe I just want you in your boxers so I can check out your butt," she giggled.

It felt good to laugh. It felt amazing to be laughing, this close to Home. But Home had always been a place of joy, and laughter, and people living on top of one another and bursting out into the hallways. There had been so much life. Home shouldn't be a silent tomb.

She nodded to a sand dune piled particularly high. It was still a few minutes off.

"We came up to there," she said, "and they thought I was lost. I wasn't. This is my desert, you know?"

Her voice was calm. Surprisingly so.

[raspberryturk]

Reno contemplated that dune. And the tone that she'd spoken in. And he nodded, just a bit.

"All looks the same to someone on the outside, I guess," he offered.

[the_merriest]

"I'm sure it does," she agreed. "If you took me to a city, all the streets would look the same, but you'd be navigating like a pro, you know?"

She sighed, not taking her eyes of that dune.

"So I climbed up to the top and waved my arms and was gonna gloat about being right, because I knew we were at Home, and then ... you know. That's when I saw it."

She shrugged. "I kind of feel like ... coming up to it, now? Like I'm going to get there and peek over and it'll just be Home again. Like that was a bad dream. And I know that's not true, so I don't know why I keep thinking it."

[raspberryturk]

Reno chewed on the inside of his cheek, twining his fingers around hers and giving her hand a squeeze.

"Livin' in Edge... Some days I'd wake up, and be all confused," he offered, "because I'd spend a night sleepin' to the sounds of the city, and the place still has that lingerin' smell of Midgar. And then there'd be the sun, shinin' through my window, like it was there to hit me on the side of the head with it all over again."

Which was... not really a bid for sympathy, so much as it was an attempt at empathy. He knew what this must feel like. At least a tiny bit.

[the_merriest]

Now seemed like the perfect time to stop. Stop, pull Reno close, and rest her head against his chest.

"Did you ever ..." She wondered if this would sound silly. "D-did you ever ... just want to stay in bed, like somehow, if you told yourself that wasn't the sun, then it would go away, or it'd just be a really bright light from nearby? Like maybe if you believed hard enough, you could get Midgar back, if you just didn't wake up yet?"

[raspberryturk]

Did he ever?

"All the time," he replied, his voice softer than usual as his arms snaked around her middle. "Every mornin' in Edge was just another bad dream."

[the_merriest]

She buried her face against his shirt. So what if it was soggy?

"If I go over that hill again," she said, swallowing with some difficulty, "it'll be real."

Because right now, it wasn't. Regardless of how much she'd lost. Seeing it destroyed, that was different.

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah," Reno agreed, quietly, "it will be. But you don't gotta go over the hill with somebody who don't appreciate what it's like, this time."

[the_merriest]

She didn't have to go over the hill with strangers, or people who still considered her some kind of heathen. Or even friends who would be more worried about Yuna than herself.

If anyone understood, it was him. And she trusted him, in a way that maybe she never had been able to trust Yuna.

That felt like blasphemy to think, so she'd probably never say it out loud.

Instead, she was going to nod, and take his hand, and approach the hill. They were still on this side of the sand dune. She still couldn't see what it was she didn't want to see.

[raspberryturk]

So, at least while they were walking, it was safe. It wasn't real, yet.

He gave her hand another squeeze as they walked.

It was safe on the other side of the dune, too. It was just painful. He'd understand.

[the_merriest]

It was just as real here as it was on the other side of that hill. She knew that.

Not seeing the ruins wouldn't bring her friends back to life. She had nightmares about that night, ones that wouldn't disappear if she never saw this place again.

It hadn't worked so far, after all.

She stopped just short of the summit, drawing an unsteady breath.

She could do this. She could. And she wasn't backing out now. She just needed a few moments to steady herself.

"I'm ... so glad you're here," she said softly.

She would never have made it this far alone.