Mission time again for the Gullwings. A sphere in Djose, or around the Mi'ihen Highroad? Well, according to Shinra, there was one somewhere in that general area. So here was their mission; find the sphere, and bring her home to the Celsius. Well, easier said than done.

"Shinra," Paine called in to the airship, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. "Do you have any idea where the sphere might be?"

"…I'm just a kid," came the infuriating reply.

Paine, trying to keep her cool, placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. "Alright," she said to her two teammates. "Let's just find this sphere and get out of here."

"Righteo!" Rikku exclaimed cheerfully, throwing an enthusiastic arm up into the air and hopping up on one foot. That was just like Rikku; so optimistic and bouncy. It was almost enough to make Paine sick…. Well, for the moment anyway. She'd get over soon enough. Sometimes Paine figured that it was Rikku's constant cheerfulness that kept their little group together. A nice balance of optimism, seriousness, and of course, Paine's-I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass-ness. In fact, each girl's attitude was what kept the Gullwings together. There wouldn't be a group at all if one were absent...

Which is why Paine was a little concerned about what would happen if Yuna ever found this blitzball player she was always talking about. Sure, Paine would be able to survive without the other two girls but…. She had never had so much fun in her life. She had never laughed so much, or felt so much for friends than these two. Rikku and Yuna, and even Brother and Buddy and Shinra… she had sort of adopted them as her own family.

What would happen if the group split? Well, Rikku and Yuna would still be close friends of course, because Rikku had been there for Yuna throughout her journey as a summoner. And if Rikku and Yuna were still close, Brother and the others wouldn't be too far behind. So where did that leave Paine? If the Gullwings were ever no more, they would just forget about her wouldn't they? And what did that mean? Were her adventures with the two girls all for nothing?

But Paine refused herself to let herself think about it at the moment. They were on a mission, after all; to find a sphere. That was the whole point of the Gullwings. Sphere hunting. She would have plenty of time to worry later.

"Yuna!" Paine called suddenly, noticing for the first time the fiend sneaking up on her friend.

"Yunie!" Rikku cried as the beast lunged at Yuna.

Before any one of them had a chance to react, Captain Lucil of the Chocobo Knights was there, weapon of choice in hand. She took care of the Wild Wolf fiend with one strike of her sword. The fiend gave a yelp of pain as it fell to its side and faded away into little pyreflies, which floated into the air and soon disappeared. "That was a close one," Elma breathed as she and Clasko came up next to the little group. With them were three tall, yellow chocobos. Paine absentmindedly rubbed one of their beaks, and the large bird squealed in delight.

"Aw, I've always loved chocobos," Rikku gushed, patting one of them happily. Paine couldn't help but smile slightly.

Yuna was smiling as well. "Thank you, Captain Lucil. That fiend would have had me for sure if it weren't for you."

"You must learn to be more careful, High Summoner. I thought you had learned your lessons well during your Journey on the way to fight Sin, but it seems as if you're slipping."

Yuna looked embarrassed by that. "Thank you, for the advice. I'll be sure to watch out for myself next time."

Lucil finally smiled. "Of course, we wouldn't want anything to happen to the High Summoner. It's good to see you again, Yuna, and you're friends as well."

Yuna laughed. "It's good to see you too. How have the Knights been doing lately?"

"Things have been going quite well, actually," Elma reported. "Still the occasional outbreaks of fights between Youth League and New Yevon, but that's nothing new. We were just on our way to the Calm Lands, actually. Our supply of chocobos has been a little short this year."

"What's been happening with the chocobos?" Rikku asked, still playing with one of them.

"It's those fiends again, the Chocobo Eaters. There are just too many of them for us to handle."

"If you'd like for us to, we could take a few of them out for you," Paine offered.

"Oh would you do that Lady Yuna?" Clasko asked. "Those poor defenseless chocobos... I hate seeing them being taken from us like this."

"Of course we will!" Rikku exclaimed brightly. "Right Yunie?"

Yuna smiled again. "Of course. We're glad to be of help."

"By the way, have any of you seen any spheres around here?" Paine asked. "We've gotten a report of one being somewhere near this area."

"Oh, so that's why you're here," Lucil observed. "Hm... well, there is only one place I can think of where one might be. There's been rumor lately of a little cave just off Mushroom Rock, not far from where Operation Mi'ihen took place. I'd suggest you look there first."

"Thank you very much," Yuna said, bowing. "And we will try to help you with your fiend problem."

So, the rest of the day was spent searching for the sphere and the cave, and fighting off Chocobo Eaters. So fun.

Actually, to Paine, it wasn't so bad, even though she complained a lot. Fight fiends and search for spheres; it was what the Gullwings did. Plus she had Rikku and Yuna there, so that always made things better. As much care as Paine put into hiding her true feelings, she was glad for the two other girls being there. Without them, she wasn't sure where she'd be.

Well, the sphere wasn't found, and eventually the group decided to call it a night and get back to the Celsius. Then the next day, they were back on the job again. It started out the same as the day before; searching and fighting, searching and fighting... Paine wouldn't be surprised if there weren't any Chocobo Eaters left in all of Spira by the time this Mission was over. Then, finally, something happened.

The Gullwings had finally gotten frustrated and had decided to split. Yuna went one way, Rikku and Paine another. Yuna always went her own way. Also, the young High Summoner was probably trying to set up an opportunity for Rikku and Paine, since she knew the way that Rikku felt for her.

Paine tried to keep her mind on the mission at hand.

Finally, they contacted one another and decided that Yuna should keep looking, while Paine and Rikku went to the Youth League camp to find Lucil and Elma, in order to ask them exactly where the cave was supposed to be. Well, they found the two women, and made a shocking discovery.

Elma and Lucil were standing a way away from the camp, which wasn't very unusual for them, what was unusual, however, was the fact that neither Clasko nor any chocobos were near them. They looked to be having a serious conversation, so Rikku and Paine hid behind a rock wall not too far away. "Do you think we should go and ask them?" Rikku whispered, trying to see around Paine.

"Shh! Stop it, they're going to see you."

"Yes, Captain," they heard Elma say then.

"Must you always be so formal?" Lucil asked. Paine peered over the side at the two women.

"You are the captain, after all," Elma replied simply.

"Yes, but we've been friends since we were girls. The fact that I am your boss doesn't change us that much." Lucil walked to the cliff's edge, with her back to the other woman. Elma was quiet. "Have you thought about my proposal?" Lucil's voice was nearly a whisper; Paine barely heard it at all.

"Yes I have... Captain," Elma said just as quietly.

"And...?"

"And, I have decided."

Lucil turned to face her. "What is your decision?" Her expression seemed torn between staying reserved and being in pain.

"I..." Elma seemed reluctant to answer, almost embarrassed. "Yes," she whispered. "If you will still accept it, then my answer is yes."

Lucil took a hesitant step forward. "You are sure about this?"

Elma kept her gaze steadily on the ground. "Very."

Lucil crossed the rest of the distance between them and pulled Elma into her arms. Paine looked away, blushing furiously.

"Wow," Rikku exclaimed quietly, still watching. "That's... interesting."

"Let's get out of here," Paine beckoned.

Once they were a safe distance away, Paine gave a sigh of relief. She looked up to see Rikku grinning silently. "I can't believe it," the girl laughed. "Lucil and Elma? Haha." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm happy for them though."

"Yeah, real happy," Paine said rolling her eyes. "I just wish we hadn't been there to see it."

Rikku's smile slipped for a second. "You're against it?"

Paine was sure she was asking for more than just whether or not she approved of Lucil and Elma's relationship; she was asking what Paine thought of two women being together. Blushing slightly again, she said, "That's not important right now. What is important, is finding this sphere. Come on, let's go see if Yuna's found the cave yet."

Not bothering to hide her disappointment, Rikku followed.

As a matter of fact, Yuna had found the cave.

"Well that saves us a lot of trouble," Paine said with a slight sigh of relief. Neither she nor Rikku spoke of what they had seen earlier. "Now let's get in there and find this sphere."

The cave wasn't very big, but it was big enough, and it was full of super tough fiends. Somehow, though, they managed to make it through, and they finally found the sphere they had spent so much time looking for. There really wasn't anything of any significance on it. It was actually a sphere of Zanarkand, and it was a thousand years old. It showed part of a blitzball game... it showed a clear picture of Tidus' face. Once the sphere was over, Yuna held it close to her heart, a pained look on her face. Paine knew that Yuna wouldn't let Shinra make this it into a dress sphere; one with Tidus on it was too precious to her for that.

Back on the Celsius, Yuna was quiet. She bid everyone goodnight and headed for the cabin, probably to sit on her bed and watch the sphere a few more times before drifting off to sleep and dreaming of her star blitzball player. As for Paine, she decided to sit up on the deck. It was a quiet night. The stars shone brightly above her head, and wisps of cloud moved silently by as the airship sailed slowly through the night sky. Below the ship, Spira was silent and sleeping, a few fires here and there to indicate that a few were still awake.

Paine sat on the edge with her legs dangling over the side, enjoying the breeze - she wasn't afraid of falling. She soon lost track of time, and so she wasn't sure how long she had already been up there by the time the door to the deck opened and Rikku stepped out. She seemed to be looking for someone, and as soon as her eyes touched Paine, the girl stiffened slightly. She walked over with a casual smile on her face and stretched as she plopped down next to Paine, yawning loudly. It was too bad the act was ruined by her hands shaking slightly; it was otherwise flawless.

For a while, all was quiet. All in all, it was kind of awkward. Paine wished that Rikku would hurry up and just say something. "Poor Yunie. That sphere really upset her didn't it?"

"Yeah," Paine answered shortly. She didn't mean to sound so rude, but why did Rikku always have to talk about Yuna so much?

"So what did you think of Elma and Lucil today?" the girl asked. It was obvious that this was really what she had been waiting to ask, by the way she avoided looking at Paine when she said it, and also by the serious tone of her voice.

"I think they can do whatever they want. If they're happy this way, I guess it doesn't bother me much."

"Oh," Rikku replied delicately.

There was a tense silence that followed. Neither said a word, but it was even more awkward than before. The two girls were tottering on the edge of something important that was about to happen; Paine could feel it in the air. All she had to do was wait.

Paine could tell that Rikku was uncomfortable. The girl obviously had something big she was reluctant to say. Her movements were slight and too stiff, her eyes were wide with the effort of keeping calm. Paine could almost hear the little gears running in Rikku's head. Finally... "Paine?"

"Yeah?"

"...What do you think of me?"

She wasn't sure what to say. Paine was quiet for a moment, thinking. "What do you mean?" she eventually asked.

"I just want to know."

She sighed. "I think you're a nice girl. You're a good friend, and you keep spirits up. The Gullwings wouldn't be the Gullwings without you." Paine bit her tongue to keep herself from saying more. She hadn't meant to say that much. She hadn't meant to say anything about anything that reminded her of how worried she got at the thought of the Gullwings splitting up.

Rikku, however, smiled. "Really?" Paine nodded slightly. "Aw, thanks Dr. P." Rikku's laugh was one of relief and she punched Paine playfully in the arm, and Paine couldn't help but smile slightly back at her.

"Why did you want to know?" Paine asked.

"Hm..." she said thoughtfully. There was optimism in her voice again. "Well, there's this person that I really like. I just wanted to know what someone thought of me, because maybe they think the same thing."

"Ah."

There was silence again for a while. The tension in the air returned, but not nearly so fiercely as it had been a moment before. There was something Rikku wanted to say, Paine was sure of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Paine saw the other girl's mouth open time and time again, as if to say something, but no sound ever came out. Was it really so difficult to say?

"Paine, I really like you," Rikku finally said. Her voice was almost a whisper.

Paine blushed, despite her best efforts not to, and was glad for the darkness. Perhaps Rikku couldn't see how red her cheeks were. She thought for a moment, not saying a word. Finally, she decided to lighten the mood. "Such a serious attitude Rikku. It doesn't really suit you."

As expected, Rikku gave an aggravated little huff, and Paine smiled. The girl crossed her arms and tried her best to look angry. "Didn't you hear what I just said?" she demanded.

"I heard you."

"Well...?"

"Well what?"

Rikku looked almost like she wanted to scream. "You don't have anything to say about it?"

"Why do we have to talk about it?"

Rikku looked startled. "What?"

"I know you like me. I like you too. Do we need to talk about it?"

Astonishment on Rikku's face slowly faded away, only to be replaced by a small smile. "Do you really?" she asked.

"Of course," Paine said with a shrug, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"...we are talking about the same thing aren't we?" Rikku asked anxiously. "I mean... you like me as just a friend?"

Paine looked at her gravely. "You're actually going to make me say it aren't you?" Rikku didn't reply, she just sat there watching her. Paine turned away so she wouldn't have to face that look. "More than friends," she said, embarrassed.

Abruptly, Rikku laughed, a high-pitched, unexpected, relieved laugh, and she threw her arms around Paine with a squeal of delight. "Whoa!" Paine exclaimed as they nearly went tumbling over the edge of the airship. Rikku scooted away an inch or two. "Whoopsie," she said. "Sorry."

Paine brushed herself off slightly. " 'Sorry' wouldn't have quite covered it if we had gone overboard."

Rikku just laughed and looked at her. The expression on her face was a mix of all sorts of things - anxiety, hesitation, but somehow enthusiastic and happy. Paine sighed. "Alright, come here." She pulled the startled girl into her arms.

After a moment, Rikku rested her head against Paine's shoulder, and together they sat like that for most of the rest of the night. It was the longest Paine had ever seen Rikku stay quiet. Finally, she glanced down to see the other girl asleep, and she sighed. It looked as if she would be carrying her to the cabin again, as much of a hassle as it had been last time. Ah well, Paine thought as she looked down at her. She really didn't mind so much.

She finally got Rikku to her bed, and Paine sighed, exhausted. She had forgotten exactly how much of a hassle it had been the time before. She sat next to Rikku's sleeping form on the bed to catch her breath. On the way out of the lift, she had run into Yuna, who had been leaving the cabin. The summoner took one startled look at them, then gave Paine a knowing smile. Paine had given her a dangerous look that said not to say a word. Silently, they passed each other, and Yuna had left. Rikku and Paine were alone in the cabin for the moment. Paine wasn't sure where the bartender was.

Rikku's eyes fluttered open, and she took in the sight of Paine, breathing heavily, at her side. "Aw Dr. P. you didn't have to carry me all the way up here," she said sleepily.

"You're tired. Go back to sleep."

Paine stood as if to leave, but Rikku caught her arm. "Not until you give me a goodnight kiss," she said with a small smile.

"You can't be serious," Paine said incredulously, but Rikku just looked at her. Paine knew that the girl could see how red her cheeks were this time. Finally she sighed, and turned back to Rikku.

Abruptly the two were caught up in a passionate kiss, holding one another tightly as if afraid the other would disappear. Finally, Paine pulled away. "Happy now?" she said quietly, keeping her arms about the girl.

Rikku smiled. "Yes." She rested her head on Paine's shoulder, rubbing her nose against her neck. "Do you really have to go now?" she asked.

Paine thought... back to when she and Yuna had passed a few moments earlier.

I'm sure that when Rikku loved her, Yuna was grateful for the girl's support. But the way that Rikku cared about her wasn't what was most important to Yuna. What was most important to Yuna was the very same thing that's still important to her now; Tidus, and the safety of Spira. Rikku understands that. That's why she doesn't feel the same for Yuna anymore. So… she feels that way for me now. Paine smirked. But unlike Yuna, I can accept it. As far as Rikku's feelings go, her love means the most to me….

"I guess I can stay for a little while," she answered.