So here is the first piece I have written after officially being off hiatus. It is a remake of Runaway and eventually that piece will be deleted. So you all know. Anyways, this will be a Paine x Rikku, and yes there will be a lemon in the future, unlike the old version. Read at your own risk. :D I don't own FFX-2 and reviews are loved.
The sun was beginning to set on the Moonflow as Paine fought another group of bandits off. It brought back memories of times when she had been with the Gullwings, when they had gone through this area protecting Tobli's caravan. Only this time she wasn't getting any sort of feeling of accomplishment for helping anyone. Her nerves were too high strung at this point to feel anything beyond the need to move forward regardless of what was before her. As she pulled her sword out of the bandit's body, she took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
It had been 2 hours since she had escaped Bevelle and escaped her fiance, Baralai. All of the details were blurred in her mind, blended together in a myriad of sounds, colors, and sensations, painful sensations. Come on Paine, get it together, she thought. If you get too out of control, you're screwed. So where can you go, besides just forward? You need a destination.
The warrior moved away from the dead bodies, moving a little slower than the sprinting she had been doing before. Okay, who can you get to in the next few hours? Not Yuna, that was for sure. The ex-summoner was settling down in Besaid with Tidus, and Besaid Island was too far away to get to before nightfall anyways.
Gippal. He'll protect me, maybe. If he believes me. Paine swallowed thickly. Her story was weird, but Gippal had seen all the crazy things she had seen so maybe it wouldn't seem too farfetched. With a goal in mind, Paine broke into a run again, pretending not the hear the faint sounds of jingling armor and chocobo chirps behind her.
(INSERTBREAKHERE)
Gippal patted the machine lightly, eyes giving it one more look over before deeming it worthy of being called complete.
"Which means my work is done for today," he sighed, moving onto the elevator platform.
The platform jolted into motion, slowly descending into the first room. Another sigh escaped his lips when the lift finally stopped for the person who stood before him spelled trouble and most likely, a lot of it.
"Paine? Why are you here?" he asked, moving off the lift. "And did the guards let you in?"
"I convinced them."
The warrior didn't look too good. Her silver hair was dark with sweat, her leather clothes clinging to her body in a sticky mess, and she was splattered with flecks of blood, none of which seemed to be hers.
"That better not be the guards," he said warningly.
"It's not. Bandits." Paine looked away as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "I crossed the Moonflow and I wasn't in a good mood. The kills weren't as clean as they should've been."
"I can see that. It's a little cold in here and you're covered in sweat. No wonder you're shivering." He stepped forward and then moved past her, still talking. "Let's go to my room. It's warmer and you can tell me why you're here."
Paine turned to face him. "New Yevon guards might show up. Tell your men not to rat me out."
Gippal raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What the hell did you do?"
Red eyes flashed angrily as they met his for the first time. "Nothing! I..." She stopped and looked down again. "Never mind. I'll tell you later.
"Meet me in my room. I need to talk to my men before we can discuss this," he told her. "You know where it is, right?
Paine nodded and then brushed past him, heels clicking on the stone floor harshly. With a shake of his head, he followed after her, wondering what would drive the woman to come to him of all people for help.
(INSERTBREAKHERE)
Paine sat on Gippal's bed listlessly, so zoned out that she didn't hear the Al Bhed man say her name until he shook her. After he did that, a mini disaster occurred which ended with a cracked wall and a cursing Gippal on the ground. "
"Sorry," she mumbled as the man picked himself up off the ground. "You startled me."
"Obviously."
The man grabbed a chair and dragged it around so the back faced her before straddling it. He gazed at her with his single eye, leaning on the back of the chair, waiting for her to speak.
"Bevelle has more secrets," she said quietly. "And I've known about them for three years. So does Yuna. And so does Rikku."
"Three years ago...that was when we destroyed Vegnagun. You knew before then?" He straightened up. "Why didn't you guys tell anyone? Me? Nooj? Someone?"
"We figured if people left it alone, everything would be fine. It was fine before. But I guess we were wrong..." she trailed off, almost zoning about again." And something is living down there. Farther down than even Vegnagun."
"Damn. How much farther?"
"More than twenty floors. We stopped after going down twenty floors and there's probably at least twice that," Paine told him. "There were a lot of unsent down there."
"Which leads me to ask again: why didn't you think this was dangerous? And why didn't you tell anyone?" Gippal exploded.
Paine tensed but then glared. "There were other things on our minds! Like Vegnagun! Like saving Spira! Like fixing up all of the problems you three left behind when you just left with no warning!"
Gippal closed his eyes and was silent, giving them both a moment to cool down. Slowly, Paine brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tightly and resting her head on them, looking away from Gippal completely. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come see the Al Bhed man. He wasn't taking it very well so far.
"So...what else?" he finally asked.
"One of those unsent possessed Baralai. I suspected and he confirmed my suspicions before throwing me down in the Via Purifico. Of course, that was after he...beat me for finding out. I was there for three days before I finally escaped and came well...here."
Paine didn't turn to look at him. She didn't want to see Gippal's expression, didn't want to see the disbelief at war with the desire to believe.
"Paine. That's terrible. And I do believe you," Gippal began. "But I don't know what you want me to do. I can't afford to leave here and just go fight Baralai for you."
"I don't want you to do anything big. Just give me a place to stay tonight and don't tell Baralai I'm here." Paine didn't say that she didn't trust Gippal to help her beyond the little she asked of him. True, he had never taken a shot at her like the others but she had seen him down in Bevelle; he hadn't hesitated to pull a gun on his friends.
Gippal stood up, sighing loudly as he ran a hand through his hair. "I can do something more for you. You probably want to get to Yuna or Rikku right? And on foot, you have a land to cover to the next port. Plus, the New Yevon soldiers have chocobos. You don't stand a chance out running them, and how you did the first time...I don't want to know."
"Get to your point," Paine snapped. "I'm tired."
Gippal's gaze softened a little, even with her harsh tone. "I have a connection with Buddy and Brother. I can get them to come pick you up and take you to Yuna."
"Isn't the airship a little big? And obvious? Wouldn't they suspect you of something if they were watching?" Paine asked, unfolding her knees and putting her feet on the ground.
The Al Bhed grinned. "They've changed some things. Before he left, Shinra put up some sort of sphere...thing. I don't know the details, when I asked he said he was just a kid. But I do know that the waves of the spheres interfere with each other in some perfect way that makes the ship invisible."
"Oh? The kid gets smarter every day," Paine mused.
Gippal chuckled and helped her up. "I'll show you where you can clean up. And then get some rest, okay?"
The warrior nodded.
(INSERTBREAKHERE)
The next morning came early as Paine and Gippal climbed up the rocky area behind Djose Temple. Buddy would deactivate the spheres long enough for her to get on but that was it. Before they reached the top of the cliff, Paine stopped and turned to face the Al Bhed man.
"Thank you," she started. "Even if it doesn't feel like you did a lot, you have."
"No problem. We may not be as close as we were during the Crimson Squad years but...I'll still help you as much as I can," Gippal told her. "And if you need shelter, I can provide it."
Paine did a half turn almost as if she was going to keep walking but then paused. They were both still for a moment and finally, Paine moved towards him and embraced him awkwardly. A little shocked, he hugged her back.
"Plus 500 hundred respect points," she mumbled.
He chuckled. "Still doing that? What does that put me at?"
"Well you lost a few after the Crimson Squad," she said, releasing him. "And I can't remember where you were at. So I guess 500."
Gippal grinned. "Works for me. Now go. Find Yuna and Rikku and sort this out. If it gets too rough, I'll do what I can."
"Thank you." Except I know you'll stay out of it even if I'm dying. Paine turned and headed for the cliff edge pausing just before she reached it and waiting for Buddy to show her the ramp for the airship.
It flickered briefly and she stepped onto it, keeping her gaze up. She knew if she looked down and saw nothing beneath her, she would panic. Finally, she was in the very bottom of the airship and her vision blurred. When she opened them again, the ramp had closed behind her and she was standing in an empty gray room with a door before her. However, before she could open the door, it opened and Buddy walked in.
"Hey. I figured it might help to see a friendly face instead of wandering around looking for us," he told her. "And you don't need to explain anything; Gippal told me."
Paine felt anger rising up in her chest but she choked it down. Of course. Gippal would tell everything without asking me. "Does Brother know?" If he does, I take back all those respect points.
"No. He figured telling Brother would be a bad idea," Buddy said, opening the door and following her through.
Telling anyone was a bad idea, she thought. "How long before we reach Besaid?"
"An hour, roughly," Buddy replied as they entered the elevator. "You can head on up to the cabin if you want."
"I'll do that." Because talking with you any longer will just get awkward.
Through she was the first to leave the Gullwings, outside of Shinra anyways, she did miss it. But the past was the past, and she had finally let it go.
(INSERTBREAKHERE)
The sun was just rising as Paine entered Besaid village, and all was still. She paused a moment and gazed around the island. Still, nothing had changed, and she doubted anything ever would. That stillness, that sense of time being unmoved, she wanted it, badly. Even when she was resting in Djose Temple, she couldn'y stop and get her thoughts together. Maybe now, she could.
Slowly, she made her way toward Lulu and Wakka's hut, where she guessed Yuna and Tidus would currently be living until they got around to making their own home. However, she was surprised to see the flap open and Yuna emerge.
The ex-summoner hadn't changed much in the past two years, still wearing the short shorts and half skirt, still being herself and not giving a damn if people thought she wasn't being modest enough.
"Just as I thought," Yuna said quietly, her mismatched eyes meeting Paine's. "I had this feeling."
Paine didn't move as Yuna approached her, nothing but unconditional love and understanding in her eyes. Something Paine had been needing quite a lot of lately. Yuna embraced her and it was in that moment she broke, folding into the other woman's arms with a tight soundless sob.