Where the Road Takes You
By MidnightWhisper7
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This will be a series of short drabbles about Paine and her dilemmas, fears, and memories as she travels with Yuna and Rikku across Spira. They are in no particular order, and will take place in different moments throughout Final Fantasy X-2 and possibly before and after. Paine is an intriguing character, and this is just my attempt to understand her. Recommended listening is anything from the album Tidal by Fiona Apple. The moody, blues-jazz music fits Paine perfectly.
Constructive criticism and comments are appreciated, but my Muses command me to write whether anyone reviews or not.
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Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X-2 and all characters therein belong to Square-Enix. I am making no profit from this story. I am merely a fan trying to work on my skills as a writer.
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I. Breathe: An exercise in living
Breathing steadily, strides smooth and even, she runs. She runs to forget, to put just a little more distance behind herself and the past. She runs to feel the pain tightening her stomach, the backs of her legs like Flan flesh. But most of all, she runs because she is alive. The air squeezed from her lungs and through her parted lips reminds her, because sometimes she feels that she has forgotten this essential fact. She's been dead inside for two years, and sometimes she needs reminding that she isn't dead on the outside too. She pushes herself, passing other travelers like a swift, pale ghost. The sun is shining and its light is blinding. She squints into it, feeling the heat on her face. Today the Ice Queen is melting.
She settles into a familiar rhythm, carefully pacing her strides. She can't remember when she first began to run three days a week, but she knows it was only a short time before she joined the Gullwings. Any events that occurred before she met Yuna and Rikku are lost to her, and she finds no peace in returning to them. Running is good for many things: strong legs to chase rival sphere hunters, endurance for fighting fiends, and also for leaving the world behind. She tells her friends (so she's decided they mean that much to her, after all) that she runs to be healthy, but she's a vegetarian and being a Gullwing takes up all of her daily exercise quota anyway. No worries there.
The Travel Agency rises into view over the horizon. Four miles. The wind hits her face as she breaks into a sprint, and she would laugh except she can't remember the sound of it anymore. A hover passes her by, shining in the sunlight. She enters the agency and sits down next to Rikku and Yuna, who are enjoying their breakfast at one of the tables. Rikku looks at Paine's disheveled hair and flushed face and remarks, "Gee, Paine, you really know how to overdo it." Yuna says nothing. Paine turns away from the concern in her eyes.
"I was just getting some fresh air," she says, and they understand.
She picks up her water bottle and drinks half of it in one gulp. Sure, running is good for forgetting, but it's also good for remembering.
She isn't quite sure she's ready for that yet.