Golden Sphere

Chapter 1: Shopping in Luca

Bustling crowds pushed their way through the busy streets of Luca, desperate to reach the many shops and markets that were lined on either side. There was no break in the chatter and laughter as they carried handfuls of bags that swung from side to side as they rushed through.

"This is hopeless!"

"Aww, come on Yuni, its not as bad as usual." The thin blonde girl tried to calm the ex-summoner as she grew red from frustration.

"You would know Rikku. You're here almost every afternoon." The gothic warrior Paine pushed through the people with little regard for their safety to clear a path for herself and her fellow Gullwings Yuna and Rikku.

Rikku followed with a pout on her face. "Not every afternoon!"

"Please don't start," Yuna moaned with a hand pressed against her aching forehead. "Let's just get through this."

The male members of the Gullwings, Buddy, Shinra and Brother, had decided that the Celsius needed an upgrade after more competing Sphere Hunters were joining the ranks and gathering more and more spheres each week. Shinra, being the smartest of the members joined Buddy in the search for the instalments, and this left the girls with Brother on the ship.

Of course, they decided to shop in Luca, both for their own possessions and to avoid the cocky man boasting about his accomplishments on the ship when all he managed to achieve was sitting on his bum for hours on end and complaining about the lack of respect he was given.

YRP lost count of how many times they were shoved, bumped and knocked around as they entered the chaotic sea of shoppers. Unknown faces passed them in a constant blur and the speech was nothing more than a droning noise in their heads.

Finally they found the light at the end of the tunnel.

"There!" Rikku yelled out, grasping Yuna and Paine by the arms to nod her head in the direction of the desired shop ahead. "Let's start in there!"

Paine glanced at her. "'Moogle Madness'?"

The thief poked out her tongue at the tome of dismay from the warrior. "Well me and Yuna will go in there then. You go and look at your psycho skull and demonic stuff!"

From beside Rikku, Yuna gave Paine an apologetic look before she was whisked away by her young cousin. "We'll meet at the blitzball stadium!" she managed to yell back before disappearing behind a fresh wave of passers-by.

Paine couldn't help but smirk at Rikku's words. "Demonic?"

Many hours passed by, and as the sun began to rise to the centre of the sky, so did the number of shoppers. They exploded through the entrances and joined the lively crowds. They were like predators out in the wild, hinting down their prey, whether it be clothes, weapons or personal gifts.

As Paine had expected, the time Rikku spent in her moogle shop she herself had managed to explore six other stores and had been waiting at the front of the blitzball stadium for ten minutes. She sighed for the tenteith time in agitation and dug her nails into her knee. The pain stung her and she stared down to see that her nails had pierced through the leather. More anger flared inside of her, but before the inferno could start, the blonde appeared with a bundle of bags in both hands. Yuna only held two, and Paine didn't doubt for a moment that they were Rikku's and she couldn't possibly hold an extra one.

"Hiya Paine!" Rikku greeted as she approached the older girl. With a tired sigh she planted the bags on the ground and stretched her arms out. "Wow, who would have thought that moogle merchandise is that heavy?"

The only sympathy Paine had at that moment went straight to a sweaty, exhausted looking Yuna who slumped to her side and collapsed onto the seat beside her.

Paine couldn't hold back a laugh as she stared at the girl struggling to find her second wind. "You look dead on your feet," she pointed out.

Yuna simply pointed to the bags with raw hands and no other explanation was needed. She was shaking from the lack of energy and Paine wondered if she had even found the time to eat.

"I can't believe that this was all you brought from there Yuni!" Rikku explained as she held up a small moogle key ring. It was a light pink with a red heart in its hands and a dark pink pom-pom standing up from its head. "There were millions of good things in there!" undoubtedly the thief was astounded.

"Clearly," Paine said with a smirk, referring to the younger girl's remark. "So did you buy the counter as well?" Smart-ass remarks were a usual for her.

For a moment Rikku didn't understand, then as the information struck realisation she lowered her gaze and sniffed fakely in an attempt to counterattack with guilt.

"Uh, uh, I'm not falling for that," Paine said.

Again Rikku's tongue protruded from her mouth in a rude gesture. "Meanie!"

Around them Blitzers filed past, heading towards the stadium. There was a match being held between the Al-bhed Psychs and the Luca Goers, and soon many people would be filling the area to watch.

Memories flooded Yuna's mind as she watched the muscular players pass by, their uniforms already worn and determination a burning fire in their eyes.

One of the Albhed blitzers passed by close to her and she was struck by his appearance. He had short blonde hair, a fairly tanned body and bright blue eyes. He glanced at her for a moment, gave a small smile, and then continued forward.

For a moment, Yuna sat, frozen, as the man flashed to Tidus in her head. Her dear Tidus, lost to the Farplane, gone from the world he had spent so little time in. Her heart ached so intensely that tears began to flood her eyes. Her hands trembled and she was forced to turn her attention away from the man and stared down at the ground instead, but she still saw him. His image was clear in her mind, his smile causing her heart to beat fast in her chest. His eyes seemed to pierce her soul and the aura of peace and kindness that he held was there, forever locked away in her memories…

"Yuna?"

She jerked back to the real world and looked up quickly to see Rikku kneeling in front of her wearing an expression of concern. "You okay?"

Yuna quickly shook her head to rid it of the haze. "Y-yeah," she replied in a quiet voice. "I was just… thinking."

Beside her, Paine shifted uncomfortably. She knew what had caused the odd behaviour and didn't ask any questions, knowing it would only hurt the girl to keep her mind on the current subject. She simply placed a hand on the girl's shoulder for comfort and kept silent.

To her, love was like a dream she could not reach. She held it for Yuna and Rikku, but to fall in love with someone was something she had never experienced. All she could do was listen to the description others gave and try to imagine it.

"Hey, there's Shinra!" Rikku announced as she stood up and pointed to the small boy in his light brown body suit making his toward them with Buddy beside him.

The pair waved at them, though Buddy only had one free hand as he was carrying a large box with him. On the side was Albhed lettering that Yuna couldn't understand, but Rikku translated as the boys reached them.

"The 'Super Sphere Hunter 5000.'" She stared at the box in confusion, trying to figure out what it actually did from the diagram. All it showed was a bulky silver box with buttons and holes all around the sides. There was a small mark in the centre, and the engraving of a sphere in the corner, but other than that it seemed it was no more than a cube.

"It picks up sphere waves at a much further distance than our current ship sphere finder," Shinra explained. As usual he could not pass up the chance to explain something he knew so much about to the others, but he was speaking as though their current finder was no more than a useless waste of metal.

Yuna clapped excitedly. "Alright!" she yelled out excitedly, her old mood returning. "Let's go back to the ship and install it!" There was no waiting for Yuna when a new discovery was made, but she never lacked caution.

Neither Buddy nor Shinra needed telling twice. Like excited school boys, they ran towards the ship, with the box, chattering away excitedly.

Rikku sighed after them. "Those boys and their ship," she muttered before losing herself to the excitement as well and rushing after them. "Come on!" she cried out over her shoulder to Paine and Yuna.

The two girls' left behind simply glanced at each other, smirking at the little thief as she bustled through the people like a mad Ronso.

"Shall we?" Yuna asked with a shrug as she pulled herself to her feet.

Paine stretched her arms out and sighed tiredly, closing her eyes. "You're keen," she said, lowering her head to rest against her chest as though she were sleeping. She had used up much of her vigour pushing through the crowds and trying to find space to breathe.

"I'm curious," Yuna replied as she clasped her hands together behind her back. "Who knows, maybe it will find something really good."

The hint of sorrow in her tone forced Paine to open her eyes and glance up to see tears brimming in Yuna's eyes.

Seeing the red eyes gaze into her own, Yuna wiped her eyes dry and shrugged. "Moment of weakness," she muttered with a weak smile. It would shatter as soon as Paine turned away. She knew this. Inside she was tormented from her loss, and she had made the mistake of revealing that she still had hope for finding a lead to be reunited with what she had lost.

'He's gone, accept it,' Paine had told her one day after losing her temper completely. It had been a long day full of irritations for all three of the girls. They had become stuck in the desert after the fiend they were chasing broke the only contact they had with the ship. Hours passed before the Celsius could locate them and they were all hungry, tired, thirsty and burnt.

Yuna had made the mistake of brining her longing heart into the conversation as soon as they were back on the ship. For many days she had been suffering after having a dream of him that left her confused and desperate to let her heart speak, but she chose the wrong time to let it all out.

Paine regretted the words as she too remembered. She lowered her head and was about to apologise again, knowing that this was part of Yuna's sadness at that moment, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. As much as it hurt her saying that to Yuna and she would take it back if she could, she felt that she would have said it later anyway.

She knew that Yuna needed to accept what her heart refused to.

Yuna shook her head ti rid herself of the emotions that stung like shards of glass inside and turned to follow the trail of Rikku and the boys that had long since disappeared. "Come on," she said, echoing Rikku's words. She had a strong urging to be back at the ship where the upgrade would take the place for attention instead of her own troubled thoughts.

This time Paine agreed almost immediately out of guilt and followed Yuna through the crowds, heading back towards the Celsius. She too wished to avoid conversing about Yuna's long lost love and could not deny the longing wish to see what the useless looking silver box could do.