Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in my story. I only own my imagination and the computer im writing this on.
warning: just a lil bit of small girl x girl fluff piece from Paine's POV. This a one shot which stands on it's own about how love can hit someone when they are not expecting it
For Her:
My dream always starts the same way. I am alone sitting on the beach. I look up and see the celsius fly towards a nearby dock. I stand up abruptly wandering where we were going and figures appear near the loading ramp. They all seemed to be in a rush and are nervsouly loading cargo. Its all my friends. Yuna is pulling her guardian Tidus by the arm and hurriedly walking up the ramp. Rikku is bouncing behind Brother as they start entering the ship in a rushed pattern with the final load. I start to casually jog to them while raising my arm to see what the rush was. I yell as loud as I can but noone seems to hear me. Before I know it Im alone at the end of the dock out of breath. Im bending over hold my hips in a pant and slight sweat. The ship is nothing now but a tiny speck in the far off horizon. Why would they leave me? It is all I can think. Tears form and I feel a sudden wind sweep my balance away. Then I fall into the water and feel like something is dragging me down. I struggle but after so long I don't have any breath left. That is when I wake up gasping for air and for some relief.
I look around and see Rikku slightly snoring in the bed next to me. My eyes quickly adjust so I can make a assumption of where I am. Yuna's bed is empty ever since she went back to Besaid to have private time with her lover. I remember she promised it would be temporary but that was 2 weeks ago. Its no rush though. We have no more missions to completel. If she ever did come back I know he would be in tow. YRP's glory days are over I guess. I scan the room and my eyes dart to Rikku as she moans something about moogle candy and rolls over. I cant keep the small laugh inside as I wonder what a nice dream like that would feel like. I am still in a cold sweat and I decide that sleep wouldn't come back for me that night. I quietly pull my pants on which is hard since leather is something a girl has to jump into to fit just right. I decide that I need some air to clear my thoughts. I leave my sword since im not going far and walk down the steps. I enter the elevator and push the button marked deck. Clearing my thoughts on the deck is a great meditation for me. I stretch my legs a bit a bit while yawning since the deck is now warming up. In the distance I can see the sun coming up. In a hour or so the crew would be up and it would be time to tackle the task of fixing the engine since Brother broke it going full throttle for Yuna that day we left for Besaid. Idiot.
I sit down by myself on the deck of the Celsius near the "hood ornament". I wonder why Cid even put that there. It serves no real purpose. I put my head in my hands and start to think about what I'm still doing here. It is only me and Rikku left anyways. I shiver involuntarily because it is windy this morning. I make note to myself that wearing small mounts of leather and waking up early is not a healthy combination if you don't like to freeze. I think back about why I made this trip so early in the morning and shudder as I remember my dream. I can not really remember why I had that nightmare again. Heck, I can't even remember the last time I had dreamt. Before Rikku found me that one day by the moonflow, I was just aimlessly wandering for a purpose. My memories were half way gone and I didn't even want answers as to why. I just knew I didn't want to be alone anymore. That nightmare of being alone again still shook me up no matter the tough front I put on for others. Sure, we defeated the enemy and even Yuna brought her former guardian back. I smile because I know she deserved a break like that. Save the world twice and the fayth better pay up. I grimace at my next thought. I knew in the back of my mind that there was always a risk of being alone again. What did I expect after the last sphere was found and peace had actually come. There was no more need for heroes or any use for a strong, silent warrior such as myself. I now just needed a reason to stay here and keep going.
I lay back and close my eyes trying to silence my thoughts from going back to the dream. I put my hands behind my head and let out a long sigh. Suddenly my eyebrows furrow since I can sense someone approaching. I can hear small steps coming toward me. I grin to myself as I see that Rikku is awake now. She is trying her best to hide her steps but I know its her due the pattern they make. She has a habit of side stepping and skipping in a pattern to a song in her head. Her rythym gets a bit louder as I feel she is right near my right shoulder. Before she can even lean down I leg sweep her with my right arm. I hear her fall on her back and let out a grown of defeat. "C'mon Dr P. How did you know that time?" she whined. I couldnt help but laugh and reply "Minus 100 respect points. It is to early." She whined even louder and I can hear her let out a long sigh. I open my eyes slowly to see her take a seat next to me. She is fidgeting with her hands. She never does this. She almost seems like she is thinking hard about something. When she speaks I jerk up with a jolt since it catches me off guard. I was so busy staring at the slowly movements her hands were making. "You had a bad dream?". It came out as almost a whisper. I merely nodded and layed back again trying to go back to being comfortable. She sucked in a deep breath. This was something big coming, I can feel it. I realized she hadn't even smiled yet. This was completely out of character for her. "Paine, I know things are over but I don't want you to leave." Her voice was pleading.
I turned to her and I spoke before I even thought my words over. "I don't have a reason to do anything. Stay or go. I'm just thinking of why I'm still here." I may have said it colder than I meant it but it was true none the less. I guess she noticed my slow withdraw over the recent weeks. I had tried my hardest to hide it. "You are important, ya know. And besides, how can i earn points back if you are gone?" she said this with a tiny hint of enthusiasm and playfully brushed my shoulder. I can feel her smile without even looking in her direction. I sit up and face her completely. I lock eyes and realize that she was biting her lower lip with anticipation of my reply. I can only shrug since words weren't coming to me on what to say. I never had anything in my bag of replys that weren't sarcastic or funny. I return my gaze to the ocean and sigh. "It's beautiful." I whispered it to myself but I guess loud enough that she chuckled lightly. I thought I heard her reply "I know" before I felt two small hands on my shoulders. She turned me to face her quickly and I felt her lips on mine. Before I knew it my mouth was open in shock and I felt her tongue enter my mouth. She leaned on my shoulders and I found myself giving into the kiss with equal enthusiasm. Everything seemed to fade away except the feel of her lips on mine. I felt my hands move towards her waste and pull her closer. It was pure bliss. Something just clicked with us. I knew at that moment this was right. I knew why Yuna would go to any depth for that boy. I realized I knew why I was still on this ship. She moaned slightly and pulled away. My eyes were shut when we began but as I cracked them open I saw her scarf twirl in the air. I was confused momentarily at the lack of anything in front of me. In a quick motion she had stood up and ran off towards the elevator giggling and bouncing with every step. She yelled playfully "Is that enough reason?" and dashed down the hallway. I grinned the biggest grint I ever have in my life. I knew it was more than enough. I started to get angry with myself for being so silly as to not see it before. That little thief had not only stolen a kiss but stolen my heart all this time. I always protected her first before everything. I stood up and ran toward the elevator. She was not getting away with just running off like that. I blushed as I touched my lips still feeling her warmth from only moments is the moment I realized I love her. The reason I am still here is for her...