A/N: Just a little Paine/Rikku one-shot that I've been working on for a while. I must admit that originally I just wanted them together because they're both so fucking hot. But then I decided that their personalities were so different that it was too perfect to pass up on. So there ya go. And the song just perfectly fit my idea of how Paine would think of Rikku.
SUMMARY: No matter what Paine does or what lengths she goes to, she just can't wipe that smile off Rikku's face. Shoujo-ai one-shot, cute fluffy goodness, no angst at all.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Paine, Rikku, FFX-2, any part of Squaresoft, "There She Goes," etc. I own nothing. Really. I'm poor as all get-out. So please don't sue me, I need the money to pay for my broken car. siiiiiiiiiiiiigh Fucking thing breaks the same day I get my license. Figures.
DEDICATION: Marcy! My shoujo-ai little FF pal! MWAH!
There she goes.
I can't help but sigh. I'm running my hands across her bare skin and playing with her hair and doing everything I can think of to drive her out of her mind and yet still she smiles. I don't know how she can always do that…smile, I mean. She's always so damn happy.
I don't get it, sometimes. I just don't get her. But then, I guess that's not surprising. How am I supposed to understand her when I don't even understand myself? I always thought that I was a very straight minded person. I knew what I wanted and I knew just how to get it. I always knew how to react to everything and if something went wrong, I fixed it. Now, everything's different. I've lost my grip on myself. I used to be so confident and sure of everything. Now I haven't a clue. How can one little thing, one little girl with skinny ankles, bust through the one tiny crack in my hardened exterior and find her way past my defenses…into my heart?
I don't get it, sometimes. It's amazing how you can know someone so well and yet still not have a clue, not one God damned CLUE what makes them tick. She bounces when she walks, she laughs at everything, she always has a positive comment to give, and she always smiles…even in situations like this one.
Most people don't smile during fits of passion. It's an odd thought, when you really ponder it. Most people like nothing better than some really great sex; it's what makes them happiest. Yet they don't smile during it. It's kind of odd. I guess they're just in such sensory overload that they can't smile. Yet smile she does.
I shove her harder into the wall, my hands running across her shoulders, sliding the straps of that tiny bikini top down to expose even more bare skin, as if there wasn't enough as it is. I pull away from where I was pressing kisses to her now bare shoulders and look her in the eyes, and that skinny blonde thing has the audacity to smile at me…though I guess I can't really call it audacity. There's nothing bold about the smile Rikku gives me. She isn't trying to be cheeky, though she is that, too (cheeky, I mean). She's just…smiley. I feel like smiling back, but I can't…sensory overload, and all that. Rikku just drives every coherent thought from my mind. I lean forward and capture her mouth with mine, my tongue flashing across her lower lip before delving into her mouth, greedily taking in the complicated taste of Rikku, of all that energy and heat and smiley nature. The first time I kissed her, it was more out of curiosity than anything else. I wanted to see how all of that tasted. All of that…bounciness…that energy…that…happiness. I needed to find out what it tasted like. And this is what it's become. If I didn't know myself better, I'd call this a relationship. It's not. I swear it's not. It's just…oh, fuck it, I don't know what it is, and I don't care. I have other things I'd rather be thinking about…such as how to get her into a dark room and out of the rest of these clothes…
I note with a strange satisfaction that she can't possibly be smiling while I kiss her. And that's because her smile has moved…into my mouth. I took it into me when I started kissing her…and then I think oh, GOD, don't let it make me as bouncy as her! I mean, she's great, and all that bounciness works for her, but…it wouldn't work for me…are you kidding? Yeah, the smile and perky high pitched voice would go great with my black clothing and depressing exterior.
I slide my hands down her shoulders and massage her breasts through that slick soft top of hers. She moans gently into my mouth and I press a quick kiss to her feverish lips. One hand curls around my neck, the other finds its way to my head, and she clenches her fingers tightly in my short hair and roughly tugs me closer to her. I have to stifle a smile then, at the first sign of impatience coming from my normally sweet little Rikku. I slide one hand down her mostly bare back and cup her ass, tugging her into me, and she lets out a gasp. She wraps one leg around my waist as she attempts to get closer to me, grinding her hips against mine. That does it. I have to get her out of the hallway before I throw her on the floor and do things to her that I know will not go over well with Yuna should she happen to come down this way. I nip at her neck and scoop her off her feet. She quickly wraps both legs about my waist and takes my face between both her hands, kissing me. I stumble backwards down the hallway in what I believe to be the direction of my room, not even sure anymore as the sweet soft taste of Rikku's lips drives all coherent thought from my mind. I crash hard into the wall and Rikku giggles into my mouth, and I can't help but smile. I reluctantly remove one hand from her back and punch in the access code. The door slides open behind me and I stumble backwards into the room with her still in my arms. One quick spin about and the position is reversed; I collapse onto the bed with her underneath me. The door slides shut and we are now free to engage ourselves however we want.
I simply stare at her for a moment. I look deep into those wide green eyes of hers and realize something that I hadn't allowed myself to think about before: this really is a relationship. I can't call it just an infatuation, or a fling, or anything else. I look into these huge drowning pools of deep green and realize that I never want to see her with anyone else. They say she and Gippal have a bit of a thing together. The thought makes me want to castrate him and then force him to eat himself. If anyone ever hurt her, I'd kill them, and then burn them and then stomp on their ashes. I want to be with her forever. I really truly love this girl. This crazy, happy, hyperactive little girl with the huge smile and the skinny ankles. I love her more than I ever would have thought possible to love anyone, let alone someone so completely different from me.
She stares back at me, and for once, the positions are reversed: this time, it is me who smiles. I trace her cheek with one hand, a small smile twisting up the corners of my mouth. She looks curiously up at me.
"What?" she asks, a tiny unsure smile flitting across her lips. I shake my head.
"You're beautiful," I say in response. She laughs and mimics me, placing one hand on my cheek and moving as though to kiss me. I put one finger to her lips to stop her and she flops back against the mattress, her brow wrinkling up with a confused expression that is so adorable that I practically melt into a puddle on the spot. I take a deep breath, steeling up my courage before I can say what I want to…before I can speak the words. "I…"
She waits expectantly. She'll never force me to tell her anything. She'll certainly try her damndest to annoy information out of me, but when it's something serious, she always lets me tell her in my own good time…and that's another of the many things I love about her.
"…I love you."
Her eyes widen in shock, and then that typical Rikku smile spreads from ear to ear, only more so than usual. This grin lights up her entire face with a joy so pure and astounding that I am so completely glad that I told her. She dives forwards and presses a quick kiss to my lips, then throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly to her. "I love you, too," she whispers, joy igniting her voice with a fire I've never heard from her before. "I love you, too."
And as I hug her back, as I let out a nervous breath that I hadn't even known I was holding, as I feel our hearts beating together, I realize that I have found perfection. I have found the only person I will ever truly love. I have found a love so pure that I know I will never tire of it. I have found the only place I ever want to be: in her arms. Still feeling happy butterflies in my stomach, I pull away to look at that beautiful face, and…
…there she goes again.
fin