Chapter Nine: Touched a Dream

Okay then…am I reactin' way too fast to what's been happenin' to me and Paine lately? After that breakfast…I can't STOP thinkin' about her! I'm goin' mad…and I should really be thinkin' about Yunie, and solving all her problems, but nope, my mind is on Paine. I mean, what with her weird (But funny) sense o' humor, her pepper colored hair…her great singing voice…she sings better then Yunie, I hate to admit…

…and she's so…

…cute.

OoO

I ran up to the stairs as Yunie walked into the bridge, her eyes red and puffy. She looked horrible. And I almost never say Yunie looks horrible, but 'cause usually she looks happy; she looks great. But at that moment she was in the worse state I had ever seen her in. Her hair was friggin' tangled on all the ends, she was wearing gray clothes that were torn and wrinkled, and her face had tear streaks on it. And I already told you about her eyes. She looked like I did the day after Spira Idol went off the air.

Okay, gots to be serious. She was in bad shape. So I of course had ta help her.

As Yunie ascended the stairs I caught up with her and put my arm around her shoulders, but I don't think she noticed. I humphed to myself and whispered in her ear. "Want me ta get you somethin', Yunie?" She shook her head and gently took my arm off of her, and then Yunie smiled – or tried to – at me and sat next to Shinra, who shook his head sadly.

I really wished that Yunie wouldn't be so worried about being pregnant. I actually had no idea why she was so…sad about it. And that was what I had to find out.

Time for Detective Rikku to come into action.

I signaled for Brother, Buddy (That ruulrea – oops, that's mean. Oh well.) and Shinra to leave by coughing as loud as I possibly could. I could've hacked outta hairball if I was a cat, it was so nasty and obnoxious. The three of them left the bridge grumbling about "whatever happened to being feminine" and "uhla y bek, ymfyoc y bek" and ya definitely couldn't forget "I'm just a kid, I can still do that…"

Yunie looked at me with curiosity. "Why did they leave?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Prolly went ta shower. They stink."

Yunie sniffed the after smells of the three of 'em. "They don't offend me…"

I laughed nervously and took Shinra's seat. "That doesn't matter. Maybe you're immune to funk. But anyway, can we have a cousin-ta-cousin talk? I think we're in need o' one right about now." I paused and thought quickly. "We'll only have one if you want ta, of course. It's entirely up to you." Yunie nodded and stared blankly at me, awaitin' for me to start talkin'. But how could I just tell her that it was a little silly to cry this much about being pregnant? She answered all my questions when she opened her mouth next, though. Detective Rikku didn't even have to talk. (Ah well. Saved me time.)

"You're probably wondering why I have been crying so much," She sighed. "I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else…except Paine. You see, I'm pregnant, and under other circumstances, I would be extremely happy about this. And I am happy, a bit. But Tidus specifically said that he did not want children. Not for a long time. Five years, I think. He already became slightly angry and annoyed when I told him I wanted kids as soon as possible…I don't want to imagine how he would react if he found out I was pregnant. We both know getting rid of it is out of the question…so…I'm lost." Yunie glanced at me, but looked down; as if she were ashamed that she was gonna bring a life in this world. I stood up and frowned.

"Well, he'll just hafta accept it. He's ta blame for makin' you pregnant, so if he causes it, he deals with it." I was mad. I usually thought Tidus was a generally good-natured guy, if not a little immature and dumb. (Like me, but more) "If he doesn't accept it, I'll make him accept it." I punched my fist and grinned at Yunie, who giggled a little. She knew I was jokin' on that last part – kinda. But she didn't need ta know 'bout that.

For a moment there Yunie didn't say anything, but then she jumped into my arms and squeezed me tight. (Darn those friggin' ginormous muscles she has. Darn them.) "Thanks, Rikku…I think I overreacted. I shouldn't have ran away…but I want to stay here for a few more days, if that's alright with you."

I grinned and hugged her back. "Of course it is."

OoO

So I spent the next four days hanging out with Yunie, discussin' things she would say to Tidus. I almost completely forgot about Paine, but she was still in the back of my mind. We talked maybe once (To tell her about what Yunie told me to tell her; over those four days, which set back my plan to loosen up Paine by five notches. Poopie. But I would get back on track, I promised myself.

The moment we dropped Yunie off at Besaid Island (She nearly fainted, but I splashed her with water) night had already fallen, so I was friggin' exhausted. I fell to my bed with all my thief clothes still on. I was that tired. But before I fell asleep, I couldn't help but think about getting back ta Paine…

OoO

"What the heck?"

I woke up on a floor and found myself in this weird room. I mean, it was really friggin' weird. There was purple everywhere. And there was a fire going on in this fireplace I had never seen before in my life, and that was the only light provider in the room. Trust me, I looked everywhere. And then I screamed. But not 'cause I couldn't find a light button.

It was 'cause there was this huge, gigantic bed that had these gorgeous drapes on 'em, dark purple, matchin' the carpet and everything else in the room. My mouth dropped open and I ran to stroke the soft drapes. The blankets on the bed were super soft too. I jumped onto the bed head first and breathed in the scent. Yum. It smelled like a perfume…one I had smelled before…it smelled really familiar…

And just before I was about to fall asleep on that silky-soft bed, the room's door swung open. I sat up real quick and squinted my eyes, tryin' ta see who the heck it was, but they were wearing a hood on their head and I couldn't see anything. "Who the heck are you?" I backed up into the pillows, and the person chuckled. I gasped. It was Paine.

She approached the bed and sat on the bedside, next to me. Then Paine took off the hood, revealin' her face, which was illuminated by the fire. Geez, it was so…wow. That's all I can say about it. WOW. She smiled at me and took off the black jacket she was wearin', throwin' it to the floor with a flourish. And underneath that…she was wearin' what I would call a "drop top".

I sucked in my breath.

"Uh…Paine…?" She was startin' ta get closer ta me and it was scarin' me (But interesting me too…) a lot. Paine stopped when she was about two inches from my face. I couldn't move. (My mind was screamin' "MOVE! MOVE!" but I was frozen) The smile that was on her face grew wider…and…seductive?

"What's wrong?" Paine didn't withdraw from me, she just waited me for me to respond. I cleared my throat once, loud and obnoxious, like when I had coughed in the bridge. It didn't faze Paine. (Eep.) I cleared my throat again and backed up away from her. "This is just…weird." Knowing Paine, I expected her to roll her eyes, or sigh, but instead, she…LAUGHED! I raised an eyebrow and backed away even farther, so far I fell off the bed. Which made her laugh harder.

Paine got up and picked me up off the floor, placing me softly onto the bed. (I was still cowerin', holdin' a pillow so tight I was surprised it didn't rip) Then she sat across from me and put her hand on my knee. "You have very smooth skin," she whispered. "Is your entire body this soft?"

My cheeks flamed up and I shook my head hard.

Just when I thought this situation couldn't get any weirder, Paine removed the pillow from my clutches and threw it on the floor. Then she – eep – moved closer to me so our faces were only inches apart again. "…P-Paine…?" But that poop-head didn't give me an answer…she only kissed me.

See, if I hadn't known any better, and if I was feelin' like I wanted to get it on, then I would've continued ta kiss Paine, 'cause she was really good. Nice and slow, gentle…etc, etc. But I pushed Paine off me and looked at her with big eyes. "What the HECK, Paine! Why did you kiss me?"

Paine made a circle pattern on my shoulder with her index finger. "I don't know. Because you're a cute, little jazzy thing that is attracted to me."

My mouth made an 'O' shape. "WHAT? I'm…not…I'm…NO! I'm not attracted to you, Paine! You've got it all wrong. You're mistakin' me with Buddy, but nope, that's not me, sorry. I-I…don't like you like that…"

She laughed lightly. "You just don't want to admit it yet. But trust me; I know when a body's calling me. Your mind is telling you no, but your body is telling you YES." I blushed once more, deeper this time. Paine was bein' really…bold. Not like Paine at all. Was she right? I didn't have time ta think about it, 'cause Paine kissed me, harder than last time. With…tongue. Poopie. And I LET HER! And for a moment there, I let her, 'cause it was so…nice. We just sat there for awhile, kissing and everything.

While I was swappin' spit with Paine, I was thinking, WHAT THE HECK! YOU'RE KISSING PAINE! PAINE! PAINE, THE MEAN ONE! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BEING THIS! IT'S WRONG! And my mind kept yellin' at me, sayin' things that I would never say. It didn't matter to me, though. I was enjoying the whole thing WAY too much.

Finally, I had ta take a breather, so I separated from her and took a deep breath. Paine just smiled. "So, you admit that you are attracted to me?" I nodded. "Good. Then it's time for you to wake up."

"What?" I looked at her, confused. What the heck was she talking about?

"I said, wake up."

My eyes flashed open.

I was dreaming.

Oh. Poopie.

OoO

The moment I woke up I ran to the bathroom and splashed my face with ice cold water several times before I screamed at my reflection in the mirror. What the heck was I doing, dreaming about kissing Paine? I hoped, no, I PRAYED that the dream didn't mean anything. If it did, then I was dead. DEAD meat.

I started to head back to my bed but then decided not to. I wanted ta check up on Paine, who was probably still sleepin'. It was still pretty dark outside, meaning it was only maybe four or five o'clock in the morning. So I tiptoed over to the private room Paine slept in sometimes. I tapped in the code that she thought no one knew (But everyone knew it; Shinra used a Commsphere to find it out) and then tiptoed into the room. It was pitch black dark.

There was a lump in the bed. Great! I thought. The last thing I needed was Paine waking up and accidentally stabbing me with that sword she has sittin' by her bedside.

What am I doing here? My mind asked. You have no reason to be here.

Yes, I do. I told my mind.

You just wanted to see Paine. That means that you do like her. Isn't that the last thing you want, is to have a crush on one of the people you live with? Besides, the plan was to get Paine to loosen up, not for you to fall head-over-heels with her. Just because she is a lesbian doesn't mean anythin'. She will probably be disgusted you like her.

I sighed. Why was my mind always bothering me? My self-conscience was always on constant alert, and that got annoying.

I musta sighed really loud, 'cause the lump in the bed shifted, and I could make out Paine's face's outline in the dark. Gulp. Wakin' her up was a big NO.

So I quietly walked outta the room, but not before takin' one last look at the lump that was Paine, and then I walked away with the new realization that I had a crush on, of all people, Paine.

Sigh.

OoO

Well? What did you think? Was it way too short for your likings? Did Yuna depart too quickly? Don't worry, she'll be coming back in other chapters. I'm just glad that I got this out of me. I would have gone into more detail with the whole dream scene, but I don't see Rikku as one describing a great kiss. But that's just me. Review and complain to me that the chapters need to be longer! I wrote this chapter inspired by R. Kelly's slow jams, you can blame it all on that. The chapter is named after, of course, "Touched a Dream" by R. Kelly.