Chapter One: "My Burnin' Heart"
Oh, I hope Paine isn't onto my plan, 'cause if she is its nada. So I should stop looking at her right now. I don't wanna give away the master plan just by giggling at what I know she's gonna become. So Rikku, you just got to act smooth. Pull off a little bit off your super slickness, and she'll NEVER know.
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I finished drinking up the drink I could never pronounce (and Barkeep being the only one saying it doesn't help to that issue) and slammed the glass down on the table. Ol' Paine actually flinched from the noise, and I laughed. "The big bad warrior gets scared by something slammin' down?" She gave me her trademark frown and pretended – really badly – that she hadn't heard me. Huh, I thought. Maybe this'll be easier then I thought if she's gettin' soft around the edges. I'm not that sure though.
Maybe I should study her…ya know, get to know the moves, all that…but in stealth!
Acting innocent, I slid off the bar seat and slowly started to walk up the stairs. Paine obviously was still pretending 'cause she didn't even flick her eyes my way. That meant that things could go easy as counting uha, dfu, drnaa. As soon as I finished walking up the stairs to our beds, I groaned as LOUD as I could and gripped my stomach. (You know, just in case she really was watching.) "My STOMACH HURTS!" I screamed with such emotion, such passion, you would think I deserved an award for that kinda acting.
To make my performance even more spectacular, I swirled a bit and then bit my lip as I fell onto Yuna's bed. "Ooh…" I squeezed my eyes shut.
Barkeep was concerned, unlike some warriors whose names I will politely not say. "Ish missh Rikku alright?" I let out another loud moan to make sure I wouldn't burst out with giggles. "Y-Yep," –I swore I heard Paine sigh with relief- "I-I just think I drank too fast or sum'in. Maybe if I r-rest I'll feel better." Barkeep agreed with me and just left it at that. I still kept my eyes squeezed tight, but I know Paine finished her drink and left. A little while after that, the blue one left too.
Perfect…
I hopped outta the bed (Yuna's bed smells really…clean) and stopped myself from racing down the steps. Instead I slowly, slowly tip-toed down them, praying to any random Al Bhed that they wouldn't creak loudly like they always do. That Al Bhed must've blessed me, 'cause those steps didn't make a sound. Quiet as Yuna used to be.
I stood on the wall as the exit doors slid open, and I looked around the corner to see if anyone was there. Dang. Brother was just exiting the elevator. Looked like I needed to come up with something – and fast. Barkeep must've told everyone I was 'sick' because Brother's annoying voice (if you could call it that; I call it noise) ripped through the air, screaming, "RIKKU! I BROUGHT YOU TEA!" Sheesh. Doesn't this guy know how to let someone sleep?
So I came up with a kaheic plan and stayed in the corner. As soon as Brother put one of his ugly feet into the doorway, I smacked a conveniently placed large book in his face. A tray dropped to the floor – along with Brother. I laughed to myself at how I had left a mark on his face and then hurried into the elevator.
Hm…now where is Paine usually? Probably in one of those rooms me and Yuna never went into. Of course before she left us to go back to Besaid, but that's besides the point. I clicked the elevator button and tapped my cute ol' foot (New shoes: courtesy of Luca shopping) against the ground. The doors opened and I walked as silent as I could down the hall until I reached a half open door. There was a bunch of noise coming from in there – and it didn't sound like Brother's voice. I mean someone going through boxes and stuff. I crouched down near the door and took a peek. Paine was in there, going through a bunch of boxes of all of our stuff.
She pulled out a box labeled "Homemade Spheres" and took one out. Now this could get interesting. The sphere clicked on – I couldn't see good at all, 'cause I was in a bad spot, but I could still make out the words.
Two guys…no wait, a guy and a girl, who I'm guessin' was Paine – were laughing real loud. Wind swishing by was playing really loud too, so they could've been on the deck of our very ship. But what do I know? I'm just assuming. Anyways, the guy was whispering something to supposed 'Paine' but she just said, "Nuh-uh." The guy talked louder this time, and I could make out, "Come on, then how about a hug?" The girl sighed – and now I could tell it was Paine by that sigh – and mumbled, "Fine, but that's it, Buddy. I don't want anybody to think we really are together."
My mouth fell open in shock. Buddy? Paine? TOGETHER? The way she said it, it seemed like the two were hooked. Oh…my…YEVON. What would those two be doing together? And why did she sound so misre-
"AGH!"
My thoughts were interrupted as Paine threw the sphere – which basically almost could've KILLED ME! I mentally kicked myself in the butt for being such a stupid poop. I blew my cover, and now Paine would be mad at me…forever. I wouldn't ever be able to do fulfill my scheme. And to make to put the filling over the top, I banged my head – hard – against the metal wall. So as Paine came out of the room with her sword drawn (scary sight) I was sitting on the floor, rubbing my head with tears in my eyes.
"Rikku?! What are you doing here?!" I stopped rubbing my head and bit my lower lip. Had to think fast to make sure she wouldn't know I was spying on her. "Uh…I was…spending the last twenty minutes looking for you!" A suspicious look crossed her face as she dropped her sword. Phew. I'm gonna have nightmares for the next coupl'a weeks.
She raised one of her grey eyebrows at me. "For…?" There was the 'I-know-you're-lying-about-something' look. Poop, I need to think of something else. "Well…you see, I was gonna ask ya if you wanted to go out with me to the café in Luca. I was just walkin' down the hall and all of a sudden, this flash of blue whizzed by my face. It scared the Al Bhed outta me!"
That was a good one.
Paine dropped to the floor to help me up. If only Yuna could see how red Paine's face turned when I asked her about the café. "You want to take me?" she asked me as she lifted me off the floor. "Uh…yeah," I dusted myself off and gave her a quick, friendly hug. "Why not?"
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The first chapter – I'm so PROUD! Thanks to all my reviewers and if you could, you should bring in more people to read it! I would appreciate that to no end. Trust me, I would. Oh yeah – the chapter was named after a 2Pac song called "My Burnin' Heart" and for now that is what described Paine for the chapter. Review and hope you stay for the next chapter…