Hi all, long long break away I'm afraid. Been revising and doing coursework. Time to kick back slightly with a short chapter maybe...

Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2 or any of its characters.

I awoke to hear muffled voiced above me. Uh, if only I could actually remember what happened prior to the voices. I was certain I could detect Gippal's voice and another familiar, yet gruff tone.

"Gippal, are you trying to kill him?" The gruff voice complained. I felt something prod my arm sharply. I automatically gave a sharp intake of air.

"Chill out Noojster." Nooj, of course! Who else could possibly be scolding Gippal so early in the day. "I mean he just passed out. He's fine. I bet he can already hear us." A shuffling of feet was detectable from my left followed by a comforting clicking of heels. Those heels...so vague in my memory yet so important to in my life. A noise that awoke me every night in a cold sweat. A small clicking that meant the world to me yet could never be recovered. The sound of-

"Paine!" I growled to myself, blissfully forgetting that I had company. I shot up, dizziness shortly following my attempt to recover. I staggered backwards slightly, only to be stopped by a strong but feminine pair of gloved arms. Black satin gloves. I dared with my conscience, not wishing this to be a cruel trick of a deranged mind but to terrified to confront the object of my struggled. I wasn't given very long to think. Before I could make an appropriate decision, my will was forced away from me. The black satin gloves released their hold on my statue-like state and I was once again aware of the sound of clicking heels on the polished marble floor of my bedroom. Within a second my mind was swept blank. Paine.

"So I see Yevon still likes its secrets after all." I registered a woman's voice declare. I had no other choice, I had to know. Slowly I turned to where the voice was, every heart beat felt like an hour had passed. Finally I looked up from the floor, to see her there.

"Is this a dream?" I whispered. Unable to even contemplate that the events in front of me were real. The woman in front of me rolled her eyes and gave a small laugh which she covered with her gloved hand. The heart beats still felt like hours as she made her way towards me, elegant in an unknown way. Indescribably beautiful and eternally wonderful. She finally reached me, streaching her hand out towards my arm. Could this really be real? Was I dead? I must be dead. So I guess the Youth League really did smother me in my sleep...

"Ow." I cried, stepping back as the angel in front of me pinched my arm, really hard too. "Was there any need for that?" I asked, slightly angered that after waiting for this moment for so long all I received was physical abuse. She laughed again.

"See? Not dreaming. And before you ask, you're not dead either. And neither am I." She sternly told me. Putting into my perspective that we were all alive and together, at last. A smile slowly crept onto my lips. So many thoughts arose in my mind, everyone ending in 'I Love you' but me, being the ever so clever praetor, settled on.

"How did you all get into my bedroom?" Smooth Baralai, real smooth. A small amount of laughter arose again, this time from everyone.

"You need to find better guards, Baralai." Nooj barked, hobbling over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"But the dispute?" I asked. No one in Spira gets on any more. Even after our huge speech in Luca, but that was years ago. three to be precise.

"Spira will never be in peace. It is a fact we will always be faced with. As long as there is humanity there will never be agreement, or peace." Nooj said, in a somewhat softer voice. I lowered my eyes to the ground.

"It is a saddening truth, but its a truth none-the-less." Paine said, folding her arms over her chest and pacing the floors of my bedroom. "But something must be done to prevent a war."

"Paine...I-" I began, wanting her to know so much about the past year and wanting to explain how I felt. She looked up at me, waiting for the rest of my sentence. The sentence that wouldn't come.

"I think before we plan the ultimate revival of peace in spira, you guys need to talk some stuff out." Gippal ushered, pushing me towards her and pulling Nooj away to the exit. "Come on Noojster. Its only fair..." he grinned, bowing as he wandered out the door.

"We'll see you soon." Nooj said, nodding his head and leaving shortly after. I turned around, unable to believe that everything that had just happened was real.

"Paine, I-" I started again, this time she placed her hand over my mouth and forced me to sit on the end of my bed.

"Listen to my story, Lai." She said, walking over to the balcony where the morning light was starting to rise.