When someone's dream comes true

Disclaimer: I don't own Utada Hikaru or Square Enix.

Summary: Right after the good ending of X-2. Another take on the ending for Rikku.

Warning: Rikku OoC, Angst, Drama, slight Yuna-bashing.

When someone's wish comes true

"Everyone's wishes

Can't be granted all at the same time"

…

Paine scanned the beach quietly, her intense concentration blocking out the sounds of the improvised party around her. She ignored the dancing and laughing Besaidians; the kissing reunited couple consisting of Yuna and Tidus; the screaming red-haired baby in Lulu's arms. The music faded to the background as she gazed over the sea of dancing people.

Paine was confused, because on occasions like this, a certain someone was usually always there to try and soak up as much fun as possible. And, because this Tidus-fellow was apparently also a friend of hers, Paine just assumed Rikku would be here too.

But she wasn't. And Paine was intrigued. Because the Rikku she knew never gave up a chance of being surrounded by people, and if she did, it was only because she was either embarrassed or annoyed. Neither of those happened very often. And if they did, certainly not on such a happy occasion.

So, Paine left the party to look for her Al Bhed friend. Out of curiosity, she told herself, not because she was worried. Obviously.

Finding her, however, turned out to be harder than the warrior had anticipated. It seemed that Rikku really didn't want to be found. She wasn't at the Airship, not in the village, not at the waterfalls, not on the shore. Paine was about to give up when she thought of something, and made her way to the temple of Yevon.

It seemed like a strange place for the Al Bhed to be, but Paine had noticed that Rikku would sometimes stare at the statues in the Yevon temples. The loud thief would be extraordinarily quiet at those times.

Sure enough, when the warrior entered the sacred building, she was met with the sight of Rikku, who was staring at the statue of Sir Auron.

She was crying. When she saw her stoic friend enter she turned away hastily, and Paine could tell she was trying to cover up her tears.

"Rikku? What's wrong?"

"Nothing!", was her unconvincing reply.

Paine sighed. She wasn't very good with this emotional stuff, but she did want to know what the problem was. So she sucked up her pride and put her arm around the blonde thief as comfortingly as she could. The moment she did, the other girl broke down and burst into a new lapse of sobs.

"I'm horrible!", she wailed, pressing her face into the warrior's shoulder. There wasn't much Paine could do but let her, despite her distaste. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, she thought bitterly. She patted the other girl's back and waited for her to stop shedding tears, wondering why she was so upset. It didn't help her impatience for her to stop crying.

Finally the girl's sobs lost their zeal and Rikku calmed down, shyly looking up at Paine as she suddenly realised whose shoulder she was crying on. Paine stared back blankly.

"Sorry…"

Paine shook her head. She might as well sit it through now.

"It's fine. What's wrong?"

Rikku hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, before moving away from her red-eyed friend and turning around to the statue again.

"I'm just… I'm horrible.", she whispered. Paine frowned. That seemed like a rather strange thing for her to say. Very strange.

"Why?"

"…I hate Yunie.", was her quiet confession, one that as uttered with a mixture of venom and remorse. Paine was speechless.

"…You…Why?"

"Because she got what she wants. She always does."

She was trembling slightly, and Paine realised dully that this was probably the truest emotion the thief had expressed in quite some time. And she kept staring at the statue. Slowly Paine connected the dots.

"Did you… You lost someone too, didn't you?", she asked quietly, already knowing the answer. She hadn't expected the tone it was given in, though.

"Off course I lost someone!,", she exclaimed angrily, "I didn't just lose someone, I lost everything! Did you see my mother's gravestone? Did you see the large empty spot where Home used to be? Did you see the immense group of people who want to go back to the times of Yevon?"

She turned back to look at the startled Paine with eyes full of renewed tears.

"Losing Auron was just a nice tragedy on the pile, I guess.", she bit her lip, "But it was the worst."

"Rikku…"

"And then Yunie! Everybody loves her. For her supposed victory over Sin, which, I might add, wasn't her doing at all. She just sat there bawling as her Guardians killed that stupid creature. Especially Auron. Auron did everything."

She took a deep breath, glaring at her hands, and Paine thought wildly of a way to calm her friend down. She couldn't think of anything.

"And she thinks she gets the right to be depressed? Ha! She still has a whole flock of people who will look out for her! She still has her home, her friends. She gets to be sad, maybe, not depressed.", her green eyes darkened, "And if she dares to be depressed after this, now Tidus is back, I'm not sure if I can ever talk to her again."

She looked up suddenly, her eyes wide in realisation.

"I'm horrible.", she cried, falling to her knees, sobbing.

Paine stared at her in shock. Of all the things she had made that could be wrong with Rikku, this was certainly not it. It was much worse than she had thought.

She walked to the once again crying pile of her friend and kneeled down beside her, a sad expression on her face. The stoic warrior put her arms around her blonde friend, not reluctantly this time, comforting her without words, for she knew there weren't any that would help Rikku at all.

She wondered what could.