And Finally

He turned and looked, then grunted. “Ah… that’s a t-rexaur,” he muttered. “You might not want to get hit with the tail.”

“Well remember when I said something bigger sometimes meandered in this direction?” he countered. “That’s it.”

As she stepped back with a small whimper she looked at it. "Well what do we do?"

He sighed. Had he been with anyone else – hell, had he been *alone* - he would have gone charging in at it, but… “It hasn’t noticed us yet,” he said with a shrug. “We can turn around and go back if you want.”

She looked around her, seeing a town near by, her heart dropped. "Well I suppose the fact that I'm out of shape means nothing in comparison really. We should take care of this. There could be little kids over there."

“There could be,” he agreed.

"Well?" She looked up at him. She was ready if he was.

“You sure you wanna take that thing?” he asked, taking the safety off his gunblade.

“I’m sure,” she replied and he nodded.

“Right then.” He marched forward. The brute of a monster was at least twice his size and ten times his bulk, but he didn’t appear to be too concerned. He had a cocky little grin on his face and he stopped about ten feet behind the critter, whistling under his breath. Without a word, he raised his hand. The familiar power surge washed over him and the bolt hit the monster square in the middle of its brow.

It roared and turned, head leading, jaws open. Seifer dodged, but wasn’t quick enough. He grunted as its teeth dug into his shoulder and he lashed out with his good hand – thankfully the one holding his blade, and managed to gash the creature neatly across the neck. “Fuck,” he hissed as it reared back and dove again, angry now. He managed to get out of the way that time.

Rikku saw that Seifer was in trouble and ran after him. Jumping on the beast's back she whipped out her barbed knuckles and wound back, dealing a good blow to the back of the creature's head. As she did it stood up and shook her off. Rikku flew backwards and hit the ground face first, and hard. As she laid on the ground she felt the ground shake as the creature came running towards her. She rolled over just in time to see it whip around an receive a hefty blow to the stomach as its tail literally crushed her.

Seifer glanced over and swore loudly and pungently, getting the creature’s attention. He saw a red film in front of his eyes and hit the thing with three potent meteor spells before rushing at it again. “Haven’t –“ he growled, the gunbade taking a chunk out of its side. “You. Ever. Heard. You. Never. Hit. A. Lady!” Each word was punctuated by a blow, never letting the creature recover until finally, in a fit it roared and turned, trying to catch Seifer with its tail and failing – it fled.

He watched it go long enough to make sure it wasn’t coming back, panting, and ignoring the pain in his shoulder. Then he sprinted over to Rikku. “Hey,” he said, kneeling down next to her. “Rikku… aw shit…” He bit his lip and set his gunblade down. “Don’t smack me for doing this on purpose or nothin’.” With a sigh, he put his hands on her chest, for a moment, the air around them glowed a faint green and then faded. “Feel better?” he asked, moving his hands.

Her eyes opened as she looked to Seifer with a smile. "A bit." Trying to push herself up she winced and moved back down to the ground. "Shit." she whispered as she closed her eyes. "I can't believe this .."

“Take it easy baby girl,” he told her, securing his gunblade to his back before slipping his arms under her and lifting her up. “That was a full contact whack you took there.”

Rikku blushed as he spoke to her and when he picked her up she winced slightly. "Well, at least I got him once right? That's all that matters to me." she said with a smile. "And that your all right." Her eyes were too blurry to see anything, she had to close them, she was beginning to feel nauseous.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to be sure he spoke the truth. He carried her back to the city, and took the bus back to his own apartment, letting her sit on his lap. They received a few odd stares and he glared back.

Rikku had felt so much like shit that she just wanted it to be over. As he carried her back she had rested her head on his shoulder. The extra movement hurt her chest so much. On the bus was the only time she could relax and snuggling up to him she had been comfterble enough to fall a sleep for a little bit until it hit a bump. Waking up her eyes became teary but refused to let Seifer see. Keeping her head tilted forward she wiped the dirt off of her face. "Oh god." she whispered.

“Almost home,” he said, carrying her up the stairs of the apartment building. Once inside – and getting in door itself took some fancy footwork – he took her back to the bedroom and put her on the bed. Shrugging out of his coat, he sat down on the edge. “Okay, let’s see.”

Rikku winced slightly when he set her down. She wanted to make a smart comment but she didn't say a word, she'd save it for later. Closing her eyes she whispered, "Be my guest."

“Trust me already, do you?” he asked with a smirk and lifted up her shirt to reveal the nasty purpling bruise. “Ouch…” He touched it lightly, the leather of his glove ghosting over her skin. “Damn.”

Rikku tried to laugh but it hurt too much. "Right about now I have to don't I?" She said with a smirk. "Of corse I do." She wanted to look at what he was talking about but she was afriad it would make her sick. "That bad huh?"

“Well, chances are you’ll live.” He gave her a little smile. “But… I think you might have a couple cracked ribs here.” He took off his glove and pressed two fingers to her side lightly. “Hurts, right?”

Whimpering a bit, tears formed in her eyes. "Yes." she said taking his hand off her side and gripping it. With a reassuring smile she gathered herself up agian. "A bit, though, nothing I can't handle."

“Right well, you stay there. I’ll be right back.” He gave her hand a little squeeze and left the room, returning a few minutes later with a warm, damp washcloth.

When he returned she had her arm covering her eyes, and she looked up as he walked in. "I'm sorry." she said with a smile. "I must be ruining your evening huh?"

“Nah,” he said, sitting back down on the bed. He started cleaning the dirt off her face. “What was I gonna do anyway? Go and get drunk?” He shrugged. “This at least is productive.”

She laughed, forgetting that it hurt. "Well if this is what you call productive." She said with a forced smile. "Thank you."

“I’m doing something other than drinking. I call that productive,” he said and winked at her. “And don’t worry about it.”

She smiled, put her head back, and closed her eyes. "If I wasn't in so much pain I would call this Heaven."

“I’ll get you some aspirin, that should help,” he told her and stood. “And you’re not in heaven – you’re in my bed to be specific.”

Rikku snickered. "So for a women to get into your bed they have to be injured huh? I'll keep it in mind." She said teasingly. "And that aspirin sounds fine, but the whole bottle sounds better."

He snorted. ‘The whole bottle’ll make you sick. Hold on.” He left again, and returned with a couple pills in his hand and a glass of water. “Think you can sit up?”

She smiled "I can try." wincing she sat herself completely up. Trying to maintain her good posture hurt ten times more but she did it anyways.


He sat down next to her, putting his arm behind her to steady her and handed her the pills first, then the water.

She smiled to him as she put all the pills in her mouth and took the water. Drinking all of it she put the empty glass in her lap and looked down to the floor. "I would like to say I’ve had worse then this, but I really haven't." she put her free hand on the bed and the arm with the glass across her stomach. "Damned thing anways."

“Damned what thing?”

"That monster thing." She struggled to remember what he told her but couldn't. She was struggling to hold herself up and couldn't any longer. Leaning against him she whimpered.

“Oh, the all brawn no brains thing, yes,” Seifer said, nodding and pushing her back down onto the bed. “No worries, you’ll be fine.”

Rikku smiled as she laid back down. "I would think of a comeback for that, but I'm not in rare form. Tomorrow though, your in trouble."

“For what?” he asked, feigning innocence.

Smiling she looked up at him, "Ah yes, you shall get yours..." Closing her eyes, with her arms folded over her stomached she envisioned herself looking somewhat like Snow White. Now all she needed was her prince, and less pain.

The only potential Prince Charming in the room shook his head and stood. “Get some rest,” he told her. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me. Holler, kay?”

Rikku had taken off her scarf, removed her sleeves, but couldn't get to her belt without pain. "Well, one last thing. Could you take this off me please?" She asked pointing to her belt.

“Sure,” he said, slipping it open. “You want something more comfortable to sleep in?”

She pulled off her bandana and undid her hair, letting it fall down over her shoulders. "Please? If it isn't too much trouble."

“It’s not,” he said simply and went over to the dresser in the corner of the room. He pulled out a comfortable pair of flannel pajama pants and a loose white shirt. “Here, this should work.”

Nodding she proped herself up. "And I suppose you would be uncomfortable with me asking you for help huh?" she said with a smirk.

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head and holding up his right hand. “Bastard’s honor, I won’t look.”

She smiled. "You know I don't care if you look. I don't play hard to get." She looked down to the floor. "Maybe that's my problem. I scare guys away." Looking back up to him she smiled. "But I trust you, I just don't want to make you feel weird."

“I won’t,” he assured her. *It’s not like you’ve got anything I haven’t seen before…*

Swinging her own feet off the side of the bed she slipped off her shoes and stood up. "I think the only help I'll need is with my shirt." She said quietly. Before she was flirting but now she felt like an invalid and she hated that feeling.

He came to stand behind her. “Put your arms up if you can,” he said.

She set the clothing he gave to her on the bed and lifted her arms slightly. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath in and raised them over her head. He lifted her shirt up over her head and then set it down on the bed, taking up the t-shirt and slipping it back down over her head. “Comfy now?”

Putting her arms down slowly she silently nodded. She wiped the tears from her eyes before Seifer could see and looking down to herself she saw that the shirt made it down to her knees almost. Rikku turned around and smiled to Seifer. "Thank you, but you should really sleep in your own bed."

He shrugged. “I think you could use it more than I could. Get some rest and don’t worry about it.”

Rikku just stood in one spot silently and looked down to the floor. She never thought someone taking care of her would make her feel so badly. She let her bangs cover her eyes as she walked past Seifer and leaned on the side of the bed with her hands.

“Take it easy, baby girl,” he said gently.

She couldn't look up to him, she felt so badly. "I will." she said in a broken tone. "Goodnight."

“Get in the bed,” he murmured. “Want me to hang around in here?”

"If you wish." she said as she slipped off her shorts and put on his pants. Sitting on the side of the bed, she looked up to him with a groggy expression. She bent down, refusing the fact that she was in pain and picked up her scarf. After she neatly folded all her clothes, including the bandana, she set them back on the floor next to the bed and laid down, still looking at Seifer.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Aspirin helping I take it?” he asked. “Lay down before you make that worse, kay?”

Rikku smiled. "Can it get worse?" she looked up to the ceiling. "Nice place."

“Um… yeah, it’s a place,” he said, shrugging. “You know what, don’t lay down yet. We should probably wrap that up. I wasn’t thinking.”

Looking back over to him she spoke, "I suppose that could help, maybe."

“Keep ‘em from moving too much hopefully,” he said thoughtfully. “Lemme go look and see if I’ve got anything.”

She nodded. It was so odd for her to be sleeping on her back. She had an impulse to roll over but she knew it would hurt so she sat up instead. "I guess your right."

He nodded and disappeared through the door again. This time he took a bit longer, but eventually came back with a long bandage. “I knew I held on to this for a reason,” he said. “Lift the shirt up, and I’ll fix you up.”

Rikku lifted her shirt but only about half way up. His effort was put into helping her so she decided not to hit on him anymore. Who likes a broken person anyways? She thought.

He went about wrapping up her ribs gently and then finished, stepping back. “There, now can I convince you to lay down?”

She smiled, "Yes doctor, anything in my best interest." she put her feet back onto his bed and slipped off her socks. First propping herself up on her elbows she gently let herself down until she was laying down, the whole time keeping her eyes closed.

He reached over and pulled the covers up over her. “At least the patient listens sometimes,” he muttered with a grin.

She opened her eyes and gave him a blank stare. She still didn't understand why Lulu was so worried. She didn't understand why he was doing any of this to be honest. Rikku was full of questions.

“Get some sleep,” he told her, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the side of the bed.

She smiled. "Can do." looking down to him one last time. "You can sit on the bed, I don't bite."

“Promise?” He grinned impishly and got up, scooting so that he was sitting against the headboard, one leg stretched out on the bed, the other hanging over the side.

"I promise." she said with a smile. Closing her eyes Rikku fell asleep in minutes. Seifer stayed there awhile to make sure she was asleep then stood up carefully and stretched, shaking his head.

“There’s a woman in my bed and I’m not sleeping with her,” he muttered as he left the room to go to the living room, shutting off the light as he did so. “There must be something wrong with me…”